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HARVARD UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY OF THE

GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF EDUCATION

S^ ,^. '-\'^^-^-^

A TREATISE

PEDAGOGY

FOR YOUNG TEACHERS

EDWIN C. HEWETT, LL.D.
President of the lUinoia State Normal UniverHty

NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

UBRARY OF THE

GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF EDUCATION

■?s»i.

vA ,0 . ^ -^ i *C^^^^^^ ^

A TREATISE

PEDAGOGY

FOR YOUNG TEACHERS

EDWIN C. HEWETT, LL.D.
Pretident of the lUinoU State Normal University

NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

. HCU

HARVARD UNHVEMfTY

GRADUATE SCHOOt Of EDUCATKDN

MONROE C GUTMAN LIBKAffiC

1884

By Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co.

NIWITT MO

s-1? 29

PREFACE.

This little book is a growth. Into that growth, several
elements have entered: among them are the author's experi-
ence as a pupil, first in the country district schools of New
England ; and his experience, for more than thirty years, as a
teacher ; together with the digested results of his reading and
thinking on educational themes. He has here embodied the
substance of his instruction to many successive classes in
Normal Schools, and the substance of numerous addresses
before Teachers* Institutes and other educational meetings.
No attempt has been made to amplify any of the topics
treated ; on the contrary, a constant and persistent effort has
been made to condense to the utmost limit consistent with
clearness.

This is not a book of methods, although a few methods will
be found in it. Its aim is, rather, to. present, in a brief and
compact form, such principles as underlie and give form to all
methods worthy of attention.

As the title im|4ies, the book has been written with special
regard to the needs of young teachers, or of candidates for
the teacher's office. But the author does not expect that such
young persons will be able to master the book by a cursory
reading ; he does, however, flatter himself that young persons
of good ability will be able to master the book thoroughly by
careful and patient study.

Psychology is made the basis of the treatise; the author
believes that in no other way can the subject be treated in a
rational or scientific manner. Nothing in the present trend

(iii)

iv Preface.

■

of educational thought is more marked than the growing
desire to found all systems and methods of educational train-
ing on the principles revealed by a thorough inductive study
of human nature.

Complete "Schemes" have been introduced, because the
author has found that they were very helpful to his own
students in their efforts to grasp and retain these subjects in
an orderly and methodical way. If they are faithfully used,
he believes that they may do the same good service for the
reader that they have done for his students in the classN
room.

The author does not flatter himself that every reader will
yield a ready assent to all his statements ; but he has given
his opinions freely, as they have been formed in the light of
his own thinking and experience. He bespeaks for them a
candid consideration, and an acceptance, if, after careful
thought, they shall seem reasonable.

Originality is by no means claimed for all that is here pre
sented. The author has freely availed himself of any thing
that his judgment commended, wherever it might be found.
Yet, he has rarely expressed himself in the words of another.

This little book is sent forth with the hope that it may be
found of some value in Normal Schools, Teachers' Classes,
and Teachers' Institutes, as well as in the private reading of
teachers, and, it may be added, of parents, also. If it shall
contribute something to improve the training of the youth of
our country, and to bring upon the stage of active life a gen-
eration better fitted to enjoy its privileges and to discharge its
duties worthily, the author will be fully repaid for his labor.

Edwin C. Hewett.

Illinois State Normal Univ]|rsity,
Normal, January x8, 1884.

CONTENTS.

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

Chapter

Scheme

I. — General,

I. — General Statement, .

II,

II.— The Intellect, .
III. — The Intellect, Concluded,
IV.— The Sensibility, Will, Etc.

Ill

V. — ^What is Education? .

IV,

VI. — Training the Powers,

VII. — Training, Continued,

VIII. — Training, Concluded,

IX. — The Teacher,

X. — The Teacher, Continued,
XI. — The Teacher, Concluded,

VII

XII.— The School,

VIII,

XIII.-^The School, Concluded,
IX

PAGE
8

30
38

39
48

49
57
67
80
81
96

97
107

116

117
128

129

140

(v)

Contents.

PAGE

Chapter XIV. — Management 141

Chapter XV. — Management, Conciuded, , . 149

Scheme X 158

Chapter XVI. — Lessons, 159

Scheme XI, 168

Chapter XVII. — Lessons, Concluded^ . 169

Scheme XII, 180

Chapter XVIII. — Teaching Particular Subjects, 181
Chapter XIX. — Teaching Particular Subjects, Con-
cluded ^ 193

Scheme XIII, 204

Chapter XX. — Miscellaneous, .... 205

Index, 221

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PEDAGOGY.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

Pedagogy. — This new word, Pedagogy ^^ means
the science and art of teaching ; but it means more
than that. It means the taking of young children,
and, by means of both skillful teaching and wise
training, leading them up to worthy manhood and
womanhood.

♦Among &milies of rank, in ancient Greece, the boys, at the age of
six or seven, were committed to the care of a Pcsdagogtis. The word
means a "boy-leader" or "child-leader." Professor Anthon says:
"They remained with the tutor (pedagogue) until they attained the
age of puberty. His duty was rather to guard them from evil, both
physical and moral, than to communicate instruction, to cultivate their
minds, or to impart of accomplishments. He went with them to and
from the school or Gymnasium ; he accompanied them out of doors on
all occasions ; he was responsible for their personal safety, and for their
avoidance of bad company." From this significance of the word ped-
<^gogue, it seems proper to call the science and art of leading youth up
to a worthy Rianhood. Pedagogy.

(IX)

lo Pedagogy.

It has been said that the ability to do this
work well requires knowledge of three distinct
kinds, or in three distinct fields ; namely, a knowl-
edge of the being who is to be taught and trained,
a knowledge of those branches, by the study of
which his mental growth is to be promoted, and a
knowledge of the proper methods by which the
matter to be taught, and the being to be taught,
shall be brought into the most healthful and fruitful
relations to each other.

Man: his Nature and Powers. — It is, there-
fore, proper that we should begin our work by a
consideration of the nature and powers of the being
that we propose to teach and train. Man is curi-
ously made up of mind and matter, so wonderfully
blended that no one can tell exactly how they live
and work together. Of the real nature of both
mind and matter, we are profoundly ignorant. No
one can tell what either is: we can study their
phenomena only.

Man has a body, and he has a mind; he has,
also, powers that belong to the body, and others
that belong to the mind. Pedagogy must study
the laws of development and action, relating to
both classes of power.

Power is the ability to do something.

For the sake of distinction, we may call the
powers that pertain to the body, as those shown
by the muscles, physical powers; and we may call

General Statement. ii

those powers that pertain especially to the mind,
as the power to remember, the power to love, etc.,
psychical powers. To be sure, the mind's powers
do not show themselves wholly independent of the
body. When we remember or love, we use the
brain ; but we do not believe tljat the changes in
the brain make memory or love, although the exer-
cise of these powers is without doubt accompanied
by changes in the brain. We do not believe that
*'the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes
bile.'* The truth seems to be that, in some way
not fully understood, the • mind uses the brain as its
instrument.

Our best philosophers teach us that the mind
itself is one indivisible thing: it does not possess
organs, as the body does, nor is it a bundle of
powers; but it has many powers which it can
exercise in various ways. When we love, it is
the entire mind that loves, and not part of it,
although it may work with more or less force in
the act. The same is true when we remember,
when we will, etc.

Grand Divisions of Mental PoTver. — ^^The
powers of the mind, or the psychical powers of
man, are very numerous; but they may all be
arranged in three classes. This is the teaching of
almost all of the modern philosophers; but, for-
merly, philosophers divided these powers into two
groups instead of three.

The three groups of immaterial powers, or the
powiers of mind, are:

1 2 Pedagogy.

1st, Those powers by which we know^ or the
Intellect.

2d, Those by which we feel, or the Sensibility.

3d, The power by which we choose and execute,
or the Will.

In speaking of the ' psychical powers of man and their
phenomena, we are obliged to borrow most of our terms from
the body and its phenomena. This is somewhat unfortunate,
as the terms thus borrowed are Hkely to be misunderstood.
The word feel, which we have just used, is an example
of such a term. When one speaks of feeling sorrow, he
means something very different from that which he means
when he speaks of feeling the table with his finger. In the
latter case, he means an affection of the mind through the
nerves of the body. This is perception, or an exercise of one
of the knowing powers. In the former case, he means an
affection of the mind independent of the nerves, as when he
feels sorrow for the loss of a friend. This is an exercise of
sensibility.

The action of the three grand classes of mental
powers may be illustrated in the following way:
You take up a newspaper, and read of the floods
in the lower Mississippi valley. You are able to
understand what the writer says — to think his
thoughts after him — and his thoughts awaken new
thoughts of your own. Thus, you see that you
have the power to know, to think, — or, you have
Intellect. As you read of the sufiFerings the floods
cause the people, you begin to pity them and to
desire to relieve their sufifering. You thus see that
you have the power to feel, — or, yo.: possess Sen-
sibility. You learn that others are sending money

General Statement. 13

to aid these poor people ; moved by your feelings,
you determine to join in the contribution. Thus,
you see that you have the power to choose, to de-
termine, — or, you have Will.

Thus, we have repres.ented the three grand
classes of mental powers ; nor is there any mental
faculty that can not be properly grouped under one
of these three classes. Moreover, these classes of
mental powers always act in the order here given.
It is inconceivable that we should have feeling in
regard to any matter till we know something about
it, or think we do. Nor do we ever put forth any
activity of the will till we are prompted to it by
some feeling.

This is illustrated in the case of the " prodigal son." He
"came to himself," and thought; he felt, in respect to his
wretched condition and the plenty at his father's house; he
then resolved to arise and go to his father.

A wise writer, or orator, or teacher, who wants
to lead men up to a resolution, always observes
this order. He strives first to awaken thought, —
to make people know something about the matter
in hand. He then seeks to arouse their feelings
in view of what they know and think. It is only
after both these results are reached that he hopes
to bring them to any resolution, or choice, or
action, respecting the matter.

.<• Consciousness.
2, Attention.
J. Conception

iousness. ^
tion. >

'ption. )

See page 33.

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(H)

CHAPTER II.

THE INTELLECT.

The group of knowing powers, or the Intellect,
IS subdivided into four groups, viz.: the Presenta-
tive Powers, the Representative Powers, the Re-
flective Powers, and the Intuitive Power.

The presentative powers give us knowledge of the
outside world through the senses.

The representative powers give us concepts of absent
objects.

The reflective powers show us the relations and con-
nections of objects^ or of their concepts.

The intuitive power is the power by which we know
certain fundamental things without being taught,

•

The word "object*' must not be confined to material
things.

The Presentative Powers. — ^The Presentative
Powers, often called the Perceptives, seem to get
their name in this way: The ancients used to divide
the universe-, for every man, into the Ego and the
Non-ego ; the Ego is the man himself, and the Non-
ego includes everything except himself The pre-
sentative powers, or the senses, present, as it were,

iw^\

1 6 Pedagogy,

the things of the Non-ego to the Ego, shut up, as
he seems to be, somewhere in this bodily tene-
ment, — ^they are a kind of *' introduction com-
. mittee."

The senses are commonly said to be five in num-
ber, — Feeling, or the sense of touch; Seeing,
Hearing, Tasting, and Smelling. To these, some
philosophers add a sixth sense, which they call the
Sense of Resistance to muscular effort.

Feeling is the most general of all the senses, as
it extends over the whole body, wherever the
nerves are found. There is some propriety in say-
ing that the other senses are modifications of feel-
ing, because they all require special nerves for
their action. All these special nerves are located
in the head. Two of the senses, seeing arid hear-
ing, in addition to the special nerves, also require
curiously constructed organs.

Most of the words used to designate the powers of the
mind may also signify the acts which the powers perform;
thus, Feeling may mean the power to feel, or the act of feel-
ing. The same is true of Memory, Judgment, etc. When-
ever we use one of these words, we do well to think carefully
whether we mean by it the power, or the act which that power
is able to perform.

The sense of feeling makes us acquainted with
such objects only as are close to us. It also acts
slowly, from the parts to the whole ; this is illus-
trated by the actions of a blind man as he studies
objects that he handles. We all act in a similar
way when we grope in the dark.

The Intellect. 17

Seeing is very different ; it shows us objects that
are near, or very distant, and it acts very rapidly;
it gives us notions of things as wholes at first, and
afterward studies their parts. The special nerves
of sight are called the optic nerves. But sight can
not act when light is absent, nor when the rays are
obstructed by opaque objects.

Hearing. — The medium through which we hear
must always be present where life is possible, for
it is the air we breathe; nor do intervening objects
wholly prevent our hearing. No other sense affects
the emotions so quickly or so deeply as hearing;
this is seen in the effects of music, or of the tones
of the voice. The auditory nerve is the special
nerve of hearing.

The senses we have considered make us acquainted with
the size, shape, position, resonance, etc., of bodies ; in other
words, with such qualities of bodies as have relation to space.

Tasting and Smelling. — But tasting and smell-
ing, by means of the gustatory and ol/actor}'
nerves, enable us to learn much of the compo-
sition and condition of bodies. We judge by
these senses whether substances are fit to be
taken into our organism or not. Hence, the
special nerves for these senses are found in the
mouth and nose, the gateways to the stomach
and lungs.

Se^se of Resistance. — When you allow an
object merely to touch your hand, you simply feel
it; but when you let it rest upon your hand, and

Ped.— 2.

1 8 Pedagogy,

put forth muscular effort to sustain it, your sense
seems to give you something besides simple feel-
ing; you have a sense of something resisting your
muscular effort. This is why philosphers say that
there is a sixth sense; and they say that no other
sense makes us know so soon and so certainly that
there are objects outside of our own organism.

Teachers can teach young children a great many truths
about the "five senses,'* but they would better say nothing
to them about the sixth sense. Children should understand
that it is the mind that acts through these nerves and organs
of the senses. The eye does not see ; but the mind sees by
means of the eye.

Because the sense of resistance to muscular effort is not
regarded by all as a separate sense, distinct from mere feel-
ing, we have placed an interrogation mark c.'.wr it in the
scheme.

The Representative Powers. — ^The representa-
tive powers give us concepts of absent objects in
two ways; viz., either as they are or were, or as
they might be. When the concept is as the object
Was or is, the mental act is reproduction. If
you know that the thing reproduced is a concept
of some former mental possession, you recognize it,
or know it again. These two mental acts — repro-
duction and recognition — make up the act of
memory; hence,

Memory is that representative power which brings
before the mind concepts of absent objects as they are or
were, and recognizes them.

The Intellecl, 19

Concepts of anything the mind has ever pos-
sessed, — sights, sounds, tastes, thoughts, feelings,
former concept?, etc., may thus come before the
mind and be recognized, for memory can bring
before us all these things.

It is probable that a very large share of the concepts that
are really reproductions are not recognized; they may seem
to us to be original ; often we question when a thing " comes
into the mind," whether it is something that we remember,
or is really a new thing. Not long since, a certain eminent
preacher was accused of plagiarism. It seemed to be clear
that he had used in his sermon whole sentences just as they
were to be found in a book, which he admitted he had
read. His defense was that his mind had great tenacity in
retaining words, and that these words were not recognized
when they were reproduced. Whatever the fact may have
been, his defense was psychologically a plausible one.

Imagination is that representative power which
gives us concepts of absent objects y not as they are or
were, but as they might be.

Illustrations. — You turn your face towards a
church and notice carefully how it looks; you are
now perceiving it by sight. You turn away, and
before your *' mind's eye" stands the same form as
clearly as before : the representative power has re-
produced a concept of what was perceived. You
know that you are conceiving of the building as it
was, so you recognize the concept, — you remember
the building.

20 Pedagogy.

You now begin to play with this concept; you
replace the brick with stone; you give it extra
towers; you elevate the spire to twice its present
height, etc. You are now conceiving of the absent
rbject as it might be. Imagination is at work.

CHAPTER III.

THE INTELLECT. — Concluded.

The Reflective Po^ver acts in several ways;
authors do not agree fully in respect to their num-
ber. We may safely indicate five of these ways of
acting, and perhaps the list will not be exhausted.
The five of which we shall speak are : Comparing,
Abstracting^ Judging, Generalizing, and Reasoning,

By some authors, the Reflective Power is called the Un-
derstanding ; by others, it is called the Elaborative Faculty.

Because writers on Psychology do not agree as to the
exact number of forms in which the Reflective Power acts,
we have placed the abbreviation Etc, after our list, in the
Scheme.

Comparing. — As the Reflective Power deals with
the relations of things, or of the concepts of things,
rather than with the things themselves, it will be
obvious that much of its action must be in the
form of comparison. It notes the relations of size,
length, position, density, value, purpose, cause and
effect, agreement, and a multitude of others.

Comparison is clearly involved in abstracting, judging,
generalizing, reasoning, etc.; hence, some writers regard com-
parison as including all the various forms of the Reflective
Power.

(21)

2 2 Pedagogy.

Abstracting. — It is seen that the process of ab-
straction is a very common one, when we observe
the large number of abstract terms which are used
even by children and uncultivated people. The
process of abstraction has sometimes been illus-
trated in this way : you look at several objects hav-
ing a common color, as a red ribbon, a red book, a
red necktie, etc. You note their color in connection
with the other qualities of those objects. You now
perceive the color in the concrete. You turn away,
or shut your eyes, and think of what you have just
seen; you now conceive the color in the concrete.
Again, you drop out of thought all the other qual-
ities of the several objects, but still think of the
color in connection with each object; you are now
conceiving of the color in the discrete. Once more,
all thought of the objects disappears, and you think
of the color only, apart from every object and from
all other qualities. You are now conceiving of red-
ness in the abstract y — that is, drawn away from every
thing else. It is probable that some such process
as this is often gone through with by those who
have no thought of the peculiar form of mental
activity they are exercising.

Judging. — In judging, the mind holds before
itself two concepts, and decides that they agree or
disagree; these concepts may be simple or very
complex. You bring before your mind a concept of
the thing we call snoWy and a concept of the quality
whiteness; you decide that these agree, and you say,
"Snow is white.** You bring before your mind

The Intellect. 23

a concept of the act called murder^ and a concept
of the quality lightness ; you decide that they do
not agree, and you say, '* Murder is not right*'
Every judgment, then, involves two concepts, and
the decision respecting them.

Proposition. — The expression of a judgment is a
proposition.

This definition is often expressed in a false form by saying,
"A proposition is a judgment expressed." In objection to
this, we say a proposition is not a judgment expressed or un-
expressed ; the judgment is the thing, the proposition is the
expression or symbol of the thing. Here, as everywhere, the
teacher can not afford to confound a thing and its symbol.

As a judgment involves three things, so a proposition must
have three parts ; these we call subject, attribute, and copula.
The subject is the word or words denoting the principal con-
cept ; the attribute is the word or words denoting the related
concept ; and the copula is the word or words expressing the
decision. Both copula and attribute may be expressed by a
single word, as in the proposition, Water flows. In this rela-
tion of judgment and proposition is the foundation of
grammar.

Generalizing. — In generalizing, the mind acts in
a direction the reverse of that in abstracting;
instead of taking several objects and drawing from
them a common quality, we take a quality and
group together the objects that possess it. A
large part of the work of the student of natural
science is of this kind. If we take the quality of
possessing a backbone, we may group together all
the animals that have this quality, and call them

24 Pedagogy,

vertebrates. Of course, an act of judgment must
precede the putting of every object into its class,
or the rejection of it from a class.

The common quality according to which we generalize
may be obvious, but not important, as in the formation of
the group of animals called quadrupeds ; in such a case, we
have merely a loose classification. In true generalization,
or scientific classification, we arrange the objects with refer-
ence to some important or fundamental quality. Should a
servant girl classify a library, probably she would do it very
loosely, putting together books of the same color, or size, or
condition; the owner would classify by arranging the books
according to their contents, — ^putting together those which
treat of a common subject.

Reasoning. — We can not enter very fully into the
subject of Reasoning, — Logic is a science in itself.
In a process of/ systematic reasoning, we compare
two related propositions, and deduce a third which
necessarily follows from the comparison. The two
given propositions are called premises ; the one de-
rived is the conclusion. To illustrate: ist. Four
pencils cost four times as much as one pencil ; 2d,
One pencil costs three cents; hence, 3d, Four pen-
cils cost four times three cents, or twelve cents.
Here the first premise states a general truth ; the
second premise states a contingent truth, and the
conclusion inevitably follows from the premises.
The two premises and the conclusion together
make up a syllogism. A process of reasoning may
make clear what is involved in the premises, but it
can never lead to the discovery of any thing not
contained in the premises.

The Intellect 25

The Intuitive Power. — It is said that the Intui-
tive Power acts in only one way, but its products
are of two kinds. By this power, we know certain
necessary, self-evident truths, and also certain fun-
damental notions or ideas.

Some assert that we get all our knowledge, of every sort,
through experience and reflection ; they claim that this is as
true in regard to what we have called the truths and ideas
of intuition as it is of our knowledge of the qualities of
objects. We hold, however, that observation and experience
merely furnish an occasion for this kind of knowledge ; they
do not cause us to have it.

Truths. — ^Thus, we know that a part can not
equal the whole ; we know that the same thing can
not be in two places at the same time; we know
that a statement can not be both true and not true
at the same time and in the same sense. All such
truths every sane and sound mind knows at once,
as soon as it is capable of comprehending clearly
what is said. We can not disbelieve them, if we
try. No attempt at proof can make us believe
them any more firmly. In fact, no proof of them
is possible ; we may illustrate such truths, but we
can not demonstrate them. Many of these truths
are included in the axioms of mathematics; but
there are axioms which do not belong to mathe-
matics.

All necessary, self-evident truths, have these three
characteristics: ist. They are true everywhere,
and at all times ; 2d, They can not be demon-
strated ; 3d, The contradictory of any one of them

Ped.—S.

26 Pedagogy.

is manifestly absurd. To illustrate, take the axiom
that a whole is equal to the sum of all its parts.
This must be true everywhere, and it must be true
at all times. We may illustrate it, — that is, we
may show it to be true in any given case ; but we
can not prove that it will always be true in every
case. The contradictory, viz., that the whole is
not equal to the sum of all its parts, is seen to be
absurd at once by any one capable of understand-
ing the statement.

Ideas. — Philosophers do not agee as to the num-
ber of fundamental ideas given us by Intuition.
We may safely say that there are . seven of them,
at least; viz., Beings TimCy Space y Beauty ^ Causey
Righty and Personal Identity,

Being, — By the intuitive idea of Being, we mean
that all men naturally and always believe in the ex-
istence of themselves and of other things. None
but crazy men and some philosophers ever think or
talk as if there could be any doubt about this.

Time, — The intuitive idea of Time means the
necessary notion of time as passing whenever we
think of the occurrence of events. We can not rid
ourselves of this idea; in thought we may empty
time of every event, but we can not think the time
away. In respect to definite amounts of time, we
exercise our judgment and experience ; but the idea
that there must be some amount of time is intui-
tive.

Space, — ^The intuitive idea of Space is very sim-
ilar. We judge of the amount of space in any par-

The Intellect. 27

ticular instance, but we can not get rid of the idea
that space is, and must be ; we can empty it in
thought, but we can not think it away, nor think
of it as finite.

Beauty, — ^The intuitive idea of Beauty is that
there is, and must be, such a thing as beauty; or,
in other words, that some things are beautiful and
some are not. The child shows that he has this
idea very early; * 'pretty" is one of his first words.
The judgment decides as to the beauty of any par-
ticular thing, and the decisions differ very widely.

Cause, — We believe intuitively that every effect
must have a cause ; the child shows that this idea is
inherent by his questions ** Why?" '*What makes
it?" etc. A cause that is not itself caused is in-
conceivable to him ; is it not beyond the conception
of any one ? Judgment pronounces as to what the
cause is, in a particular case.

It is highly important that we do not confound the occasion
of a thing with its cause. The occasion of a thing allows it to
be or to be done ; the cause makes it to be or to be done. To
illustrate : The expansive force of steam is the cause of motion
in the locomotive ; the opening of the valve, or throttle, is the
occasion of the motion.

Right, — ^The idea that there is such a thing as
Right, — that some things are right, and others are
wrong, — seems to be intuitive. **Is it right?" is
a question that has a meaning to a very young
child; parents and teachers would do better to ask
it more frequently. Judgment decides whether a
specific thing is right or not

28 Pedagogy,

Personal Identity. — No sane person can divest
himself of the idea that he is himself, — the same
personality that he always has been, — it is intui-
tive; he is conscious that it is so, and that is the
end of all question. Nor would the testimony of a
thousand strengthen his conviction.

We may say that a knowledge of these funda-
mental, intuitive truths and ideas is innate, — that
is, we are so constituted at birth that, as soon as
the occasion arises for this knowledge, we have it,
and that without any instruction or study. And
we take it for granted that every one else has this
knowledge the same as we have ; we pronounce one
an idiot, or insane, if he is lacking in this respect.
For, a recognition of these products of Intuition
constitutes what we call natural reason; and when
one loses this knowledge, — as, for instance, when
one imagines himself the Czar of Russia, — we say
that he has lost his reason. Reason, as we here
use it, must not be confounded with the Power of
reasoning; some insane people can reason most log-
ically, but they have lost their reason, as they
show in various ways.

Review. — Let us look, for a moment, at the
four grand forms of intellectual power, as we have
studied them.

The Presentative Powers gather knowledge for us.

The Representative Powers treasure the knowl-
edge we have gained.

The Reflective Power examines this knowledge,
and discovers its import and its value and use.

The Intellect. 29

The Intuitive Power gives us a knowledge of the
regulative truths and ideas that must be regarded
in all our work.

Or, if we compare knowledge to grain, the pre-
sentative powers are the reaper ; the representative
powers are the granary; the reflective power is the
mill, and the intuitive power provides for a correct
performance of the work. Grain is of no value till
it is gathered and stored ; nor can it be of any use
until it is ground ; but let us remember that every
thing which shall appear in the final product must
have gone into the ** hopper. " The mill creates
nothing.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SENSIBILITY, WILL, ETC.

The Sensibility. — We have studied briefly the
different forms of intellectual power; we will now
turn our attention to the Sensibility. We shall not
attempt an exhaustive analysis of this power, but
we will mention only a few of its forms that are
most concerned in the work of the educator. We
will speak of the Appetites and Desires, Loves, Hates,
Admiration, and Reverence,

Appetites and Desires. — When we speak of the
Appetites, we usually mean such desires as have
reference to the body, like the desire for sleep,
food, etc. We use the term Desires in distinction
from Appetites, to signify such desires as do not
pertain especially to bodily wants, as the desire for
praise, for excellence, etc.

Loves. — We put the ^yord Love in the plural,-
meaning to include not only what may strictly be
called love, as love of friends, country, etc., but
also what might be more properly called a liking,
as a fondness for fine dress, for certain articles of
food, etc.

Hates. — The word Hate is put in the plural for
a similar reason. We mean by it not only hate
(30)

Sensibility, Will, Etc. 31

properly so called, as a hate for evil things, but
also all the different aversions and dislikes, as well.

Admiration. — ^The word Admiration was for-
merly nearly synonymous with wonder. It retains
something of the same meaning still, but there is
added to wonder a sense of approbation as well.
We admire that which seems to us wonderful and
pleasing at the same time.

Reverence. — By Reverence, we mean a profound
respect for what is great or good, or both. When
it becomes intense, we call it Veneration.

Conscience. — ^There is another very important
power or faculty of the mind which we would class
with the sensibilities, or emotions, or feelings,
although it is by no means so placed by all writers.
We refer to the Conscience, which we believe is
primarily and properly a feeling; but many, holding
that conscience includes a judgment of what is
right or wrong, as well as a feeling in respect to
what is right or wrong, are inclined to class it
among the knowing faculties, or, perhaps, rather to
put it in a class by itself. We define Conscience
as follows:

Conscience is the feeling that prompts us to do
what we believe is right, and to avoid what we believe
is wrong, and that commends us when we obey it, and
condemns us when we disobey it

It is judgment that determines whether any
particular thing is right or wrong. In respect

32 Pedagogy.

to their judgments as to what is right and what is
wrong, men differ widely; their conclusions are
sometimes diametrically opposed to each other.
Yet, regarding the right or wrong of many things,
as murder, cruelty, oppression, kindness, truth,
honesty, etc., the judgments of men are nearly
harmonious.

But, if our definition of conscience is correct, then we may
say that conscience is the same in all men, and in all ages ;
its action is always uniform. It is said that the Hindoo
mother conscientiously throws her babe into the Ganges, while
the Christian mother conscientiously preserves and cherishes
her offspring; and, hence, we are told that conscience acts
very differently in different cases. Now, it seems clear that
conscience is the same, and acts in the same way, in both
women ; each does what she believes to be right. Owing to a
difference in education, probably, their judgments lead to
different conclusions ; but in their consciences, they agree
completely.

We have said that our definition of conscience would not
be accepted by all ; but we believe it to be correct. If it were
accepted, and the proper distinction between judgment and*
conscience were always kept in mind, many of the vexatious
disputes concerning conscience would be settled, or, at least,
the discussion would be simplified.

The Will.— The action of the Will takes only
one form, but it involves two elements, as appears
in the following definition :

The Will is the power by which we choose and
execute.

Sensibility y Will, Etc. 33

There is no action of the Will when we execute
without any choice; nor does choice constitute
an act of the Will unless some effort is put forth in
consequence of our choice. A mere choice, with
no attempt at execution, is a wish. The moral
quality of actions resides in the choices which lead
to them ; nor can we avoid the responsibility of
choice. If, between any two courses of action, we
choose not to follow either, we have exercised the
power of choice in the act of not choosing.

Other Powers. — We have already defined a
Power as the ability to do something; but some
philosophers make a distinction between a mental
Power and a mental Faculty.

A Faculty is a power under the control of the
Will, having a specijic work of its own to do.

According to this definition, we must class See-
ing, Memory, Judgment, Love, etc., as mental
faculties. But the mind has three very important
powers that do not answer to the definition of fac-
ulties ; these are. Consciousness, Attention, and Con-
ception.

The powers of Consciousness, Attention, and Conception
never act separately from each other, nor from some one or
more of the mind's faculties. These powers are not co-ordinate
with the other mental powers, but are connected with them all.
Hence, in the Scheme on page 14, their names are written
across, opposite a brace that includes the powers of all the
three Grand Divisions.

34 Pedagogy.

Consciousness is the power tfte mind has to know
its own actions and states, and to know them €is belong-
ing to the Ego.

This is not a faculty ; it is not under the control
of the Will, nor does it perform any specific act of
itself — it gives cognizance of the acts performed by
the faculties.

Whether there can be any mental action of which we are
not conscious, is a question that has been much discussed. It
seems very clear that there can be no proper activity of the
mind if we are not conscious of that activity ; not to know
that one sees, is not to see. No doubt, however, there is a
great deal of brain activity of which we are not conscious.
When we perform any habitual act, as walking, we know
that every muscular movement is prompted by an action of
the brain, directly or indirectly; but, having once put the
"machine in motion," we have no consciousness of the
further action of the brain ; the movements seem to be
purely automatic. There is brain activity, no doubt, but we
believe that it does not involve any mental activity, properly
speaking.

What we have called brain activity, as distinct from
mental activity, is called "unconscious cerebration" by
many writers.

Some writers speak of "unconscious knowledge." Such
an expression seems to be contradictory in terms. Yet much
of our knowledge, doubtless, has not been consciously formu-
lated ; a child or a savage knows that a part can not equal the
whole, and still he may not be able to state his knowledge
to another, — perhaps his mind has never conceived such a
statement.

Attention is the power the mind has to bring all
its force to bear on one thing.

Sensibility^ Willy Etc. 35

Important as this power is, it produces no result
alone, and of itself. Hence, it is not to be con-
sidered a faculty, although it is under the control
of the Will.

When we say that Attention is under the control of the
Will, we do not mean that it never acts except in obedience to
a mandate of the Will, but simply that the Will can cause it
to act. The same is true of other voluntary powers ; we often
remember without willing to do so, but Memory can be
moved by the Will.

If it be asked how the mind turns its force to one thing in
an act of the attention, the answer seems to be that it is done
by not allowing the mental force to move toward any thing
else.

Illustration, — ^The mental current may be compared to a
stream of water — it flows constantly. In re very and absence
of attention, it is like that stream flowing down the mountain
side, and spreading, unrestricted, over the meadows ; it may
be pleasant enough, but it does no work. When one wishes
to put the stream to work, he puts a dam across- it, and allows
no place of escape, except at the point where he puts his
wheel. So we put the mind to work by confining the mental
force to one point of escape. If we can do this completely,
the attention is perfect, — no force is lost ; if not, the power in
part escapes like lost water through a leaky dam.

The question is discussed, whether we can perform any
mental act without some degree of attention. As in the same
question respecting consciousness, the answer is clearly in the
negative. The reason is essentially the same ; it is inconceiv-
able that there can be consciousness of that to which no
attention is given.

It is also asked whether the mind can attend to more than
one thing at a time ; much has been written on this question.
It seems clear that we can attend to several things; but, in
such a case, the attention is not perfect, of course.

36 Pedagogy,

Conception. — It is not easy to frame a short and
satisfactory definition for Conception, although
there is little difficulty in mentioning the particular
things that it does. It is the power by which we
see with the ** mind's eye*' things not present; by
which we perceive the abstract relations of things ;
by which we get clear notions through discourse or
thinking; by which we understand why and how
things may be, etc.

When a teacher, after explaining a problem in
algebra, asks the pupil if he *'sees it," he means
to ask if it is clear to his conception ; of course, he
has no reference to the act of sight. Perhaps the
best short statement for Conception, is to say that
it is the power by which we see with the * * mind's eye,*'
When we conceive of a thing fully, we see all
around it, as it were; we become acquainted with
all its limitations; we ** take it in; " we comprehend
it. But we often apprehend things that we can not
comprehend; just as one may see something of a
mountain when much of it is hidden in clouds.

We must not limit the possibility of things by our power
to comprehend them. Many possible things are inconceiv-
able; for instance, the matter of this earth must have been
created out of nothing, or it must always have existed in
some form without any beginning; both these things are
utterly inconceivable, and yet not only is one of them possi-
ble, but it is certain. On the other hand, some impossible
things are perfectly conceivable, as the passage of a flying
ship to the moon.

Conception is largely under the control of the

Sensibility, Will, Etc, 37

Will, but it accompanies all the other mental
powers, and produces no specific work of its own;
hence, it is not a faculty.

There is a special use of the Conceptive power in forming
abstract, general concepts; for instance, when the ideas of
surface limited by three lines, are combined, we have the
abstract, general concept signified by the word triangle. This
combination is made by Conception acting with the Reflective
Power; such a use of the Conceptive Power may be called
Logical Conception.

Use of the Povrers. — Having made this brief
survey of the mental powers and faculties, we may
ask : Are some of these good and some bad ? Are
some to be cherished and cultivated, and some to
be crushed out? The truth is, that all were given
for a good use, and all may be abused ; it is just as
wrong to love evil as to hate good. Even venera-
tion may work the greatest evil, as in the idolater.
All these powers are good in one sense, if they are
well adapted to their purpose ; just as a knife is
good, if it is made of good steel. But moral good-
ness can not be predicated of the powers any more
than it can of the knife; the good knife may be
used to carve a roast or to kill a man, — the moral
quality lies in the use.

So all these powers may be used for good or for
bad purposes, and it should be the business of
education to make all these powers efficient, and
also to lead to their right use in all cases, and to
prevent their wrong use.

SCH EM E III.

Note. — Let the reader turn back to the General Scheme, page 8. '
and notice how this Scheme grows out of that, and connects with it

3. What is Education? . . . -

' I. Learning is not Education.
X Definitions.

3. Relation of Teacher and Pupil

4. Of the Powers as given.
{a) General and Special Education.

5. Education requires Time.

6. Principles and Methods.
{a) Best Methods.

{d) Four Grand Principles.

7. Right Order in Education.

(?*^>

CHAPTER V.

WHAT IS EDUCATION?

What is education? If this question were put
to each person who proposes to teach school, the
answers would be very different. Probably it would
appear that many of the candidates for the teacher's
position had never seriously thought of 'the ques-
tion, — had never clearly set before their own minds
the nature of the work they were about to under-
take.

Learning not Education. — Doubtless, many
would show that, in their thought, education is
simply the acquiring of knowledge, — the laying up
of a store of facts, in the memory; they would
make learning and education synonymous terms.
Probably this is the common opinion of a majority
of our people. But it should be clearly understood
that learning is not education. Without doubt, they
are closely related ; learning is an aid to education ;
no one can become truly educated without becom-
ing more or less learned. But the two words do
not mean the same thing. Learning is a posses-
sion ; but education is a part of one's self; it gives
one the mastery of himself, — it trains and develops
his powers, and gives him control over them.

(39)

40 Pedagogy,

Many men are learned, but not educated; that is, they
have an extensive knowledge of the facts of science, or liter-
ature, or history; but they have never learned how to use
them in such a way as to make them a source of power to
themselves. On the other hand, many men may be said to
be well educated, who are not very learned. They have no
g^eat stores of knowledge, but they have made such use of
the knowledge they have obtained that their powers have
been strengthened and developed, and they have come to be
masters of themselves. The stock of knowledge that they
have they may have acquired in school or college, or they
may have acquired most of it on the farm, or in the factory,
or shop ; or, as in the case of Lincoln, by poring over a few
books by the light of a pine knot in the kitchen.

Definitions. — ** Education is the development of
the faculties, or germs of power y in man, and the train-
ing of them, into harmonious action in obedience to the
laws of reason and morality,''

An eminent teacher has briefly defined education
as cultured growth.

If we examine the word itself in respect to its
radical meaning, we get essentially the same
thought ; the root of the word, dtu, is from a Latin
verb meaning to lead, and the prefix e is from the
preposition ex, meaning out.

Education is a leading out or developing of the
powers whose germs the child possesses at his birth.

All these definitions are in substantial harmony ; and they
show that education really means very much more than
simply storing the mind with facts. The getting of knowledge
is an important part of school work ; but it is not all, nor is it

What is Education ? 41

the most important. The development of power in all right
directions is the main business of the school, and all the
knowledge obtained should be gained and used in such a way
as to help forward this growth of power.

Some writers on education are inclined to speak of certain
studies as useful chiefly in giving information, while others
have their chief value in the training they give, — they are a
kind of mental gymnastics. The last class of studies they
sometimes call forming studies; and the first, informing
studies. This distinction does not, however, seem to be a
very wise one; all proper studies give useful information,
and all studies can be so pursued as to aid in the develop-
ment of mental power. And, however valuable the knowl-
edge gained, the growth of power should be the chief aim
of all our school work.

Relation of Teacher and Pupil. — Now, what
can the teacher do in the work of a true educa-
tion? The work of the real educator is quite Hke
that of the skillful gardener or nurseryman. He
prepares the soil, he puts the seed in the proper
place, he watches the growing shoot, he stirs the
earth about it, he removes weeds and insects that
would injure it, etc. In this way, the result is
something quite different from what it would have
been without the gardener, — the result is a ** culti-
vated growth." The plant has done the growing;
the gardener has contributed the culture. So with
the person who is educated, — the result will depend
chiefly on the putting forth of his own power.
Strictly speaking, one can not give another an edu-
cation ; he may contribute the culturey but the
growth must always come from within, by the

Pcd.— 4.

42 Pedagogy.

pupil's own effort. It seems that there are only
four things possible for a teacher to do in this pro-
cess, viz.:

He may arouse, incite, and encourage his pupil.

He may set before him the right kind and
amount of work to do.

He may guide him to do the work in the right
way.

He may make the circumstances favorable by
saving him from the annoyance of others, etc.

What more can he do?

Given Po^vers Only. — Nor is it in the power of
the educator to change the nature of the child.
Every child that is sound and sane is born with the
germs of all the powers common to human beings,
but these germs have very different degrees of
strength in different persons. Hence, it follows
that no processes of education can make all to be
alike ; nor can any one become very strong by a
process of education in any direction, if, by his
native endowment, he is weak in that direction.

If Newton had been educated for an artist, even under
the best teachers, and Angelo had been educated for a math-
ematician, under teachers equally good, it is not at all prob-
able that these eminent men would have changed places ;
most likely neither would have achieved distinction.

A Special Education has for its purpose the
acquiring of some art, or trade, or profession. In
such an education, it would be foolish to spend
one's effort in cultivating the weaker powers; ex-

What is Education? 43

cellent endowments in any direction indicate that in
that direction lies the road to the greatest power
and usefulness. Hence, the folly of choosing a
career for a young man before he is old enough to
have shown his individual peculiarities, — to have
determined his **bent."

A General Education has for its purpose to
make of the given child the best possible specimen
of a man or woman. This should be the education
attempted in all our common schools and colleges.
As the man or woman should be as symmetrical as
possible in all that pertains to a manly or womanly
character, it follows that, in such an education,
weakness in any direction calls for special effort to
develop the child in that particular, — a course quite
the opposite of that to be taken in a special edu-
cation.

Nor should the work of special education be un-
dertaken till that of a general education is fairly
done. The man is more than the artist, or doctor,
or mechanic. It is a pity that so many of our
American youth are so impatient to undertake their
life-work that they have not patience to lay a broad
general foundation before they attempt to build
their special structure. The result is weakness and
narrowness to the end of their career.

Education Requires Time. — Our age is marked
by mechanical invention; by the steam engine, the
telegraph, the labor-saving machine, etc., we are
able to do many things much more rapidly than we
once could. Many seem disposed to think that

44 Pedagogy.

something may be contrived by which the work of
education may be shortened in a corresponding
degree. In fact, if we may judge by the astonish-
ing professions and promises of some very young
institutions, we might conclude that the ''short
cut" to an education has been found, — or, at least,
that it is expected to make people believe that it
has been found.

Why is it not reasonable to expect that the work of edu-
cation can be thus shortened, seeing that we have achieved
such wonderful results in other things ? The answer is easy.
All these wonderful inventions result in mechanical effects.
Education is growth. If one wishes his lot enclosed by a
fence, he can have it done in a few hours by employing
workmen enough ; but if he chooses to have a living hedge
around it, he must wait. When some method is found by
which a fine sugar-maple, three feet in diameter, can be pro-
duced in six months, then it will be time enough to listen to
these very smart people who promise a finished education
in the same time.

Principles and Methods. — We have taken a
brief survey of some of the most important powers
of man. We have seen what Education really is,
and what it ought to do for these powers.

Let us now make some suggestions in respect to
the work of training or educating these powers.

Best Methods. — It is not our purpose to give
any set of best methods for doing this work. Such
a task would be utterly impossible, for the simple
reason that one must be largely governed by cir-
cumstances in the devising or adopting of methods.
It will follow, from what is said above, that a

What is Education f 45

method which may be good for one set of pupils,
may be worthless for another set; or, a method
good for pupils in some circumstances, may not be
good for the same pupils in different circumstances.
Hence, the truth of a remark once made by a
shrewd teacher : * * Best methods ! there are no best
methods."

It is wise to study methods, not for servile imita-
tion, but for suggestion. It is frequently wise to
adapt methods, but rarely or never to adopt them.
It is true, however, that all good methods rest
upon sound principles ; these never change, but the
methods founded on them may vary indefinitely.
It will not follow from this that every method is a
good one which recognizes a correct principle. It
is one of the soundest principles of pedagogy that
no teacher can proceed profitably with his work till
he has the attention of his class. But he would
hardly be a wise teacher who should attempt to
gain that attention by firing a pistol, or by standing
on his head, although he would gain the attention
in either case without doubt.

Four Grand Principles. — Before making any
direct suggestions as to training the powers, let us
state four fundamental truths of pedagogy.

1. Any power under the control of the will may be
cultivated or trained.

2. The powers are trained in one way, and in one
way only ; viz., by wise use. This law of work is
the one unchangeable law of progress everywhere.

46 Pedagogy,

3. The wisest training will be directed to those
powers that are conspiaiously active at the time,

4. An indispensable prerequisite to any profitabk
training is careful attention to tlie matter in hand.

Further words in respect to the third principle
may be necessary. We have said that every sane
and sound child is bom with a germ of every
power that is common to man. But these germs
do not all develop at the same time, as every one
at all familiar with child-life must know.*

And one who is not familiar with child-life has no business
to attempt to teach children,— of all the text-books on peda-
gogy, the most valuable is a baby or a young child. He
who neglects the loving study of this "living epistle" will
never become very wise in a knowledge of the correct teach-
ing and training of children, no matter what else he may
study.

Right Order in Education. — Now, one who

studies children, even a little, will soon observe
that at first the Presentative powers seem to be
active almost alone, so far as the intellect is con-

* In view of the order in which the child's powers develop, it is the
custom of some writers to divide the years of youth into three periods
or stages; viz., The Perceptive Stage, the Conceptive Stage, and the
Reflective Stage. During the first, extending from birth to the age of
seven or eight, the senses are most active ; during the second, extending
to fourteen or sixteen, Memory and Imagination are the controlling
powers ; Reflection appears in its strength only when the youth ap-
proaches maturity.

What is Education f 47

^^•^^^^^f^l^^^^^^* iM^^—^ ■ |^Mi» ■■■■^■■■-■—-1 ■ ■■ - ■ — ■ — I I — — _ ■^■ — - -.J

cemed ; seeing, hearing, feeling, and tasting are the
child's occupations. Memory and Imagination soon
follow, while Reasoning and Reflection are long
delayed. This fact clearly shows what should be
the field of effort in the teaching and training of
young children ; it should include —

Training in sense-perception^

Proper expression by words, and

Manual activity.

Instead of following such a course with young
children as the above statement would indicate,
how often the commands are, *' Sit still," ''Don't
talk," "Study your book!" And in studying the
book, — that dry, conventional, artificial thing, — the
effort is not made to help the child to see correctly
what is in the book, and to learn from it such
things as his present state of development would
allow him to grasp and appreciate, but to crowd
his memory with such words as can have no mean-
ing till he has learned to use his powers of reflec-
tion, abstraction, and reasoning.

Thus, the powers already active are neglected, that a
vain, stupefying, deadening effort may be made in an appeal
to powers that will remain comparatively dormant for years.
Not seldom is he required to learn and to give logical forms
of reasoning, as in "mental" arithmetic, while his mind
is wholly in the perceptive and imaginative stages. It is as
though the gardener, having beans and potatoes planted in
his garden at the same time, should go out and hoe around
where his potatoes will appear by-and-by, but neglect to pay
any attention to his beans already above ground and in great
danger of being choked by the weeds.

SC HEME IV.

Note. — Connect this Scheme with the General Scheme.

4. Hints
on Training, ■

I. The Sight,

a. The Hearing,

1. Out>of-doors.

2. In the School-room

3. Exercises.

1. Out-of-doors.

2. In the School-room.

3. The Memory.

4. The Imagination.

5. The Reflective Power.

6. The Sensibility,

7. Moral Training.

8. The Will.

9. The Attention.

^ 10. The Conception.

■ • •

1. Loves and Hates.

2. Appetites and Desirec^

3. Admiration.

4. Reverence.

5. Conscience.

C48)

CHAPTER VI.

TRAINING THE POWERS.

Training the Senses. — In the light of what has
been said, the usefulness and the philosophic char-
acter of the ** Kindergarten '* will be very apparent.
But, it would seem that the apparatus and the
methods of the kindergarten are not available for
the ordinary district school at present; and, per-
haps, they will not be for a long time to come.
The question is. Can the teacher of the ordinary
district school, with only the ordinary appliances to
be found there, do any thing to train young chil-
dren in accordance with these truths and princi-
ples? We answer, **Yes, much every way.'*

'The Sight. — There is no end to the ways in
which a thoughtful teacher in such a school may
help to train the sight of his pupil ; but we can
only suggest.

OuT-OF- Doors. — Different kinds of vegetation are
all about him. Train him to observe the different
forms of leaves, grasses, and flowers. He will re-
spond heartily and gladly to such an effort. You
have but to hint that you want specimens, and they
will be forthcoming in perplexing abundance. Is
there any reason why children in the country should

Ped. — 5. ^ (49)

50 Pedagogy.

be ignorant of the different forms of foliage about
them? Surely, they will take delight in noting the
characteristic forms of the leaves of the maple, the
oak, the elm, the apple, etc. Would not this be
as useful, aside from the training of sense, as a
good deal of what they are required to learn?
Why not have them learn to note the forms of the
different grasses, and the humbler plants, as well as
the leaves of the grains and garden vegetables?

In connection with this study of the forms of
foliage, many a weary hour may be beguiled in
attempts to copy or to reproduce some of the forms
on their slates.

And, then, what endless lessons in colors, their
names, their combinations, etc., as shown in the
flowers, or in bright colored yarns or bits of calico,
or in samples that any teacher can make with the
aniline dyes ! And what a field for training chil-
dren's eyes in observing the shapes and sizes and
colors of the animal world all about them ! Will
they perform the dull, necessary drudgery of book-
study less earnestly or efficiently for a few minutes
spent in waking up the mind by some such exer-
cise in seeing, and endeavoring to describe what
they see by word or by pencil?

It is a custom in the famous Quincy schools to allow the
pupils ten minutes each morning in telling what they ob-
served on the way to school. Here, sight and language both
are cultivated ; and it should be remembered that training in
the art of expression must be kept up through the whole of
the school course.

Training the Powers. 51

The little pupil on his way to school, earnest to see some*
thing of interest to describe to a sympathetic teacher, will
be a very different object from Shakespeare's "whining
school-boy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creep-
ing like a snail unwillingly to school."

In the School- Room. — We have made some
suggestions about training the sight to see things
outside of the school-room. Let us now suggest
some exercises for training the same sense in deal-
ing with things in the school-room.

Pictures, — Here, especially with quite young chil-
dren, much may be done with pictures. And,
happily, most of the text-books for little children
are now filled with beautiful and instructive pict-
ures.

Put before the class a picture of a farm-yard
scene, for instance. Let each one point out the
distinct objects that he sees in the picture. Get
him to think about them, and to express his
thoughts. Do not put words into his mouth, but
encourage his own expression, however crude and
imperfect it may be. Continue with the picture
until it is exhausted; — until every object has been
noticed. Commend him who can find the most
things to see, and can say most about them, but do
not do it in such a way as to discourage the slow
and the awkward.

By such a process, not only is the eye trained,
but an inexhaustible store of material is gathered
for langtiage lessons. And, with even very young
children, some of the statements may be put in

52 Pedagogy.

writing, thus teaching, in a natural way, penman-
ship, spelling, the structure of sentences, and some
of the most obvious uses of punctuation.

One who never tried the experiment will be surprised to
see how much more interest a child will take in a picture
that he has been taught to see. Give a book full of beau-
tiful and appropriate pictures into the hand of a little child
without any guidance, and he will glance at them rapidly,
one after another, and the book is a "squeezed orange'* to
him. Restrict him to one or two pictures at a time, teach
him how to see them, and the same book will be an unfail-
ing source of instruction and amusement for many days.

Children are often slow, blundering, and mechan-
ical in their reading, simply because their eyes have
never been taught to look ahead and to take in more
words than the one they are trying to pronounce.
One way to remedy this, is to have a stiff card-
board with a single sentence printed on it; or,
better, a little hand black-board with a sentence
written on it. Hold it for an instant before the
class, then take it away and see who can pronounce
the whole sentence.

Of course, these suggestions might be extended
indefinitely; but the teacher who understands the
true principles of his art, can multiply them indefi-
nitely; and he will do so, when once his mind
has awakened to their importance. The result
aimed at is to make the sight quick, accurate, and
comprehensive,

A Suggested Exercise. — Before leaving the sub-
ject of sight, we want to. suggest another kind of

Training the Powers, 53

exercise, which, if properly conducted, will give a
three-fold result, — it will train the child's eye, it
will give him useful information, and it will improve
his language and increase his vocabulary.

Holding a book before the class, ask, "What
have I?" This, to gain attention. Now, tell the
children that you will hold it in two ways, and you
want them to notice the two ways and to tell you
about them. Hold the book horizontal, and let all
notice the position, then hold it inclined, and let
them observe. Ask how it was held the first time.
The second time. You will get a variety of
answers; but, probably, some one will say, '*The
first time it didn't tip, — the next time it tipped."
Accept these answers for the present, and let the
pupils hold books in the two ways. See that they
do it accurately. Next tell them that you will give
them a long word to tell how the book was the first
time. Give the word ** horizontal, " — let it be care-
fully pronounced, and spelled both phonetically and
by letter. Again, hold the book in the first way,
and get the children to say, "The book is hori-
zontaV Hold it the second way, and let them say,
"The book is not horizontal." Change this last
statement, and substitute, "The book is inclined,''
or, "The book is oblique.'' Let the children point
out horizontal surfaces and lines in the room, tak-
ing care to have the same thing mentioned but once.
Make horizontal and inclined lines on the board,
and have them described. Let the pupils do the
same. Let the pupils tell you of things they have

54 Pedagogy.

seen outside the school-room that are horizontal.
Here is matter enough suggested for several les-
sons; do not hurry; introduce much variety; give
the pupils a good deal to do ; do not let any
lesson exceed ten minutes.

Take the word verticaly and treat it in a similar
way ; then the word parallel. Now give little exer-
cises, such as, * ' Make three parallel, horizontal
lines on the board;" three "parallel, vertical
lines," etc. Insist on having the work well done;
lead the pupils to take pride in doing it well; let
them describe their work in proper sentences.

The same general process may be followed in
teaching a large number of geometric terms or
forms, as angles of different kinds; triangles of
different kinds ; parallelogram, rectangle, square,
sphere, cube, etc.

These are only suggestions, — the field is bound-
less.

Hearing. — Methods somewhat similar may be
used for training the sense of Hearing, at school.
Children might be allowed to report the sounds
they hear, as well as the sights they see, on the
way to school. Is it not as important that they
should be able to recognize the calls and the songs
of different birds, or the chirp of different insects,
as it is to know the length of the Congo River, or
the number of slain at the Battle of Bunker Hill?

Of course, successful hearing, as well as success-
ful sight, depends primarily upon closeness of
attention. But many teachers train their pupils not

Training the Powers, 55

to attend to what they ought to hear. They do
this by announcing lessons and issuing commands
and requests over and over again, or by repeating
questions in recitation, or by meaningless repeti-
tions of answers given, as well as in many other
ways.

Let the pupil once become thoroughly impressed that his
teacher says nothing without a meaning, — ^that a clear state-
ment once made will not be repeated, but that the school
will be held responsible for hearing and observing it, and
much will be done to quicken this sense.

As drawing should be called in to aid in training
sight, so music should be used in training hearing.
In this way, children may be taught to distinguish
and to describe the pitch of tones, their varying
length, and the different degrees of force, in connec-
tion with their little songs. Nor is the usefulness
of such distinctions confined to singing, by any
means. Correct pitch, and change of pitch at will,
have as much to do with correct speaking or read-
ing as with singing. The lifeless, monotonous
reading of the dull, ill-taught pupil is often due to
the fact either that his ear has not been trained to
the distinctions of pitch and of power, or his
organs have not been trained to produce those dis-
tinctions.

In connection with the training of the ear and
the vocal organs, will come a study of inflections
and slides of the voice, on which expression so
largely depends.

56 Pedagogy.

In all his school work, the pupil should be
trained to love and to make clear, pure tones. On
this point, Dr. Lowell Mason used to insist with
great earnestness in his lectures before teachers' in-
stitutes. All harshness of tone, screaming, and
coarse, nasal utterance should be banished from
the exercises of the school-room, — not encouraged,
as they so often are, by the unwise teacher, whose
constant admonition is, ** Speak up loud." But
such a teacher not only leads his pupils astray by
his precepts; he generally does it by his example
as well, in the loud, harsh, unnatural tones which
he uses in the school-room. The teacher's voice
should be perfectly natural, smooth, and clear, but
not loud nor high-pitched.

We will omit any discussion respecting the training of
the other senses, although we believe something interesting
and useful is possible here.

CHAPTER VII.
TRAINING. — Continued.

Memory. — ^The Representative Powers, in the
form of Memory and Imagination, awaken in the
child almost as soon as the Perceptives. The
child a few months old knows his mother's face
from that of any other woman, which, of course,
can be possible only as he remembers. In the
years of childhood, from infancy to the age of
twelve or fourteen. Memory is the characteris-
tic faculty. It not only receives readily at this
age, but it retains with astonishing tenacity. Let
any one in advanced life compare the readiness
with which he can recall what was committed to
memory at this age with the difficulty he has in
recalling what he has recently committed. This is
the period, then, for ''storing the mind." Memory
is the faculty to be especially trained and exercised
at this age.

In order to train the Memory, the child must be
made responsible for its use. He must be held to
remember what he is told in the way of command
or direction ; to remember it exactly, and to observe
it accordingly. He must be held to remember the
instruction given to him in oral form, as well as

(57)

58 Pedagogy.

that gained from the book. So tenacious, is
Memory at this period that it easily seizes and re-
tains mere words, although they make no appeal to
the understanding. Here is the root of the most
glaring evil in our school work, especially with care-
less and ill-trained teachers. Mere words are
caught and repeated by the pupils; and they are
glibly recited, giving an appearance of knowledge
where none exists. Of course, this evil should be
avoided, but the opposite extreme of requiring
nothing to be committed in exact form is still
worse.

Special exercises to train the memory are valu-
ble; for instance, read a short, pithy sentence, and
require the exact repetition of it ; tell an interesting
story, and have it reproduced exactly, the next
day, etc. There is no need to give the child trash
to commit, simply to train his memory. That
power may be exercised on things worthy in them-
selves as well as in storing up nonsense. There is
much in the child's lessons that should be com-
mitted exactly y such as definitions, tables, etc.

Many modern teachers are so impressed with the evil of
committing simply the words of the text-book — ** mere memor-
izing " — ^that they have gone to the other extreme. Hence, in
many schools, otherwise good, the Memory is neglected to
such an extent that the pupils can not give what they know in
exact language, nor have they power to fix exactly what they
strive to remember.

Because, of the facility with which mere words
are retained at this time, it is not unphilosophical

Training, 59

to require the pupil to commit to memory some
useful things which he does not fully understand.
The recent movement in favor of memorizing
literary **gems*' is worthy of all commendation.
Nor need- they be fully understood at present.
Who can not recall something of this kind, dropped
into his memory in his childhood, that afterwards
became a most profitable subject of rumination?

It is a curious fact that certain defects sometimes become
objects of personal vanity, such as a pale skin, defective eye-
sight requiring spectacles, etc. It is thought by silly young
people to be fashionable, and an evidence of "high-tone,'* to
have these defects. On this ground we account for the readi-
ness with which many people declare that they are deficient
in the power of memory. Certain it is that ho one possesses
a really good mind if his memory is very defective. When
students have come to the author pleading complacendy this
defect as a reason for failing to retain their lessons, he has
sometimes effectually cut off a repetition of the excuse by
fully accepting it, suggesting perhaps that he had long sus-
pected that their minds were not quite sound!

Imagination. — During the early years of a
child's life, no power is more active than Imagina-
tion. As Dr. Rosenkranz says: '*The child tuYns
his perceptions into coTiceptionSy and plays with
them." He bestrides a stick, and it becomes a
prancing horse; he ties together three or four
chairs, and they are a train of cars. The little girl
collects a few broken bits of crockery, and they are
a China tea-set ; she ties up a bundle of rags, and
it is a baby. Two or three children come together,
and they must '*play bear," or *'play horse," or

50 Pedagogy

"play school,*' etc. In the child's vocabulary,
**play" means to exercise the Imagination.

Now, shall we, like some unwise parents and
teachers, reprove children for these things, and
exhort them to be sensible? We may be sure that
nature makes no mistake in this, any more than in
other exhibitions of child-life.

By entering into, and sympathizing with, the
child's ideal life, the teacher or parent may do
much, not only for the child's amusement, but he
also may make this a valuable means of instruction
and training; besides, in this way, he may learn
more of the child's inner nature than in almost any
other, and do much to establish those bonds of feel-
ing between the child and himself, — so necessary to
his highest success as the child's guide and in-
structor.

I
I

That prince of writers for children, and for instructors of i

children, Dr. Jacob Abbott, in his admirable work, "Gentle
Measures in the Management of the Young,*' has an excellent
chapter on the Imagination, which every mother and teacher
ought carefully to study. On pages io8 and 1 14 of the same
book will be found very interesting illustrations of the way in
which the same faculty may be used in the moral and prac-
tical training of children.

Education has for its aim to lead the child up to
true freedom, — to a free and right use of his own
self-determination, — to such a wise use of his will
as shall control circumstances to his own advantage.
In the early use of his imagination is found a most

Training. 6 1

important training in this respect. Here, he is' at
liberty to arrange and apply things as he chooses,
untrammeled by the conditions of stern reality.
This freedom of will constitutes the principal charm
of such *'play." Here, doubtless, we find an ex-
planation for curious facts which every careful
observer of children must have noticed.

If a little girl has several dolls, — a fine China one, an ordi-
narily good one, and a poo/, dirty, mutilated " rag baby," —
she will probably prize the last most highly of all. The
reason is, that she can do whatever she pleases with this one.
If a boy has a present of a jumping-jack and a ball, he will at
first be much more interested in the ftinny toy. But soon his
interest in the jumping-jack will die out, while the ball will
grow more precious every day.

But the highest use of Imagination, for child or
man, is found in the fact that it alone gives an ideal
of excellence in what one is to do or to be ; without
such an ideal, progress is hardly conceivable.

The Reflective Powers. — We will spend little
time in speaking of the Reflective Powers, Reason-
ing, etc.; not because these are not important, but
because early youth is no time to attempt an ex-
tensive training of these powers. To be sure, even
a little child has some tendency and ability to draw
inferences, to study the relations of cause and
effect, and such efforts may be encouraged and
directed to a limited extent. But a common mis-
take is to endeavor to train the reflective power be-
fore its time, and to neglect other powers that are

62 Pedagogy.

in a stage of development which calls for the
teacher's best efforts.

The Sensibility. — Passing to the training of the
Sensibility, we say that the teacher's success or
failure in the most valuable part of his work will be
largely determined by his power or weakness in
this field. It is through the Sensibility that
motives to action are furnished, and character is
formed. Even the highest intellectual success is
impossible, unless the Emotions are enlisted in be-
half of the work attempted. No child is likely to
make much progress in a study which he thor-
oughly dislikes, especially if he dislike his teacher
at the same time. Even the mature man finds his
intellect will work with redoubled power and suc-
cess when the glow of emotion accompanies its
action.

Lx)VE. — The child's love for good things, for his
fellows, and for his teacher, must be carefully
trained and strengthened. Here is a worthy field
for the power of the teacher with the wisest head
and the noblest heart. But it is no place for pre-
tense or sham ; all work here must be genuine. If
you wish to awaken the child's love for yourself,
expect it only in return for genuine love for him.
Stage smiles and honeyed words, with no heart
back of them, will not serve. It is easier to de*
ceive a grown person than a child in this respect.
In the old poem, the child says:

" I do not love thee, Doctor Fell;
The reason why I can not tell."

Training. 63

No doubt, there was a good reason which the
child felt^ although she could not tell it. And we
suspect that an equally good reason generally exists
for the child's personal likes and dislikes.

But, perhaps, some teacher is ready to say,
' ' Well, it is of no use ; I never did love children,
and I can not, — ^at least, I can not love uninterest-
ing and disagreeable children." Then, we say, you
ought to do one of two things: either set about
acquiring this power at once, or forever forego any
attempt to teach children. One of the surest ways
to develop a love for any person or thing is to
make that person or thing the object of your
special care, interest, and effort. If persistence in
such a course will not beget a love for its object,
we think the case is hopeless.

Hate. — But the child's capacity to hate or dislike
needs attention, as well as its opposite. We re-
member with what earnestness and effect an old
associate of ours used to say to his pupils: *^ Boys,
hate mean things,'' That they have not been
trained to hate mean things is the trouble of to-day
with too many of our boys, and girls as well. But
the child should be carefully shown that the hatred
of mean things must not be allowed to pass over
into a hatred of the persons who do them. We
fear it will often be found that many who declaim
loudly against wrong, after all feel more bitter
toward those who do the wrong than they do
towards the wrong done. The child should be
taught that hatred towards persons is never right.

Appetites and Desires. — Little ever needs to be
done to strengthen the appetites and desires of the
child. But no part of his education needs more
earnest care than that by which he gains the power
to regulate them. And here the skillful teacher can
do much, in ways that love and tact will indicate,
to train the pupil so that his appetites and desires
may be used to minister to his well-being and to
his innocent gratification, instead of leading him
down to the level of the brute, or below it.

Admiration. — The child's power of admiration,
and his tendency to admire, demand careful atten-
tion. Owing to the activity of imagination in chil-
dren, the persons that seem to them admirable are
esteemed to be perfect. Children are born hero-
worshipers. And the things that they admire are
likely to be thought *' altogether lovely.*' There is
a psychological reason why, in the vocabulary of
young persons, '* splendid" and *' horrid" exhaust
the list of descriptive adjectives so often. Now,
because admiration always contains the element of
approval, it is easy to see that one's character is
likely to be indicated by the persons and things he
admires; not only is his present character indicated
in this way, but his future character is largely de-
termined as well. In the admiration that boys con-
ceive for the characters depicted in the robbers and
Indian killers of the wretched *'dime" literature of
the day, lies the chief danger of the poisonous stuff
And the young girl's admiration of the vain, vapid
character of the heroine in the trashy novel she

Training, 65

reads, is likely to work lasting injury to her, for
the same reason. There is Uttle danger threatening
the character of any young person whose admira-
tion is thoroughly fixed on such things only as are
"pure, honest, lovely, and of good report."

Reverence. — There is special need in this coun-
try, and in this age, that the Reverence of children
should be trained. In the abounding life and free-
dom of this new country, we seem to forget, to a
great extent, that there is any thing to be treated
with reverence and respect. And it is a serious
question whether this tendency is not on the in-
crease. Much of the flippant nonsense in our
newspapers that passes for wit would lose all its
point if the irreverence were taken out of it. And
the children and youth are not slow to imitate the
example of their elders. The '*old man,** or the
"governor," is the boy*s frequent appellation for
his father, nor does the "old woman" signify the
mother much less frequently. Similar disrespectful
terms are ready to apply to men and women who,
by age, or character, or position, should be treated
with special respect.

The reverent attitude of mind or speech, toward
God or man, seems to be very unpopular just now.
This fact does not augur well for the future, and
the best efforts of our schools should be turned to
its correction.

We remember when our teacher, in the old country school
in New England, used to teach us to meet her with a re-
spectful "good morning," and to leave her with a gentle

Ped.— 6.

66 Pedagogy.

"good night." She also taught us to stand by the road-side

and lift our hats when we met travelers. It is possible we

might return to some old-fashioned ways with profit. It is

often said that we must put into our schools whatever we

desire to have in the thinking and in the behavior of our

people. Is this not true? And if this is so, must we not

look to our schools to train their pupils in reverence and

respect if we would see less of the roughness, vulgarity, and |

rowdyism that now disgrace us as a people, and make

thoughtful men fear for the future?

CHAPTER VIII.

TRAINING. — Concluded,

We will close our discussion of the training of
the child's powers by saying something about the
training of the Conscience, the Willy and the powers
of Attention and Conception, Let the reader first
turn back to Chapter IV, and study carefully the
definitions of these powers.

The Conscience. — Conscience makes us feel that
we ought to do what we think is right, and to let
alone what we think is wrong. How shall this feel-
ing be cultivated and made stronger? In the same
way as every other power is cultivated and strength-
ened, — by use. Every time that the voice of con-
science is heard and heeded, it gains strength to
speak with more clearness the next time. Every
time it is disregarded, it is shorn of some of its
powet" ; this may be continued until conscience will
sleep quietly while one does things that would
once have caused the keenest anguish. Thus, con-
science becomes ''seared as with a hot iron." It
withers and decays like an unused muscle. And
yet, sometimes, after a long slumber, it wakes up
with a fearful power, and stings like a scorpion —

this is remorse,

(67)

68 Pedagogy.

Let the parent and teacher make frequent ap-
peals to the child's conscience, — press upon him the
word ought in all the fullness of its meaning. If
there is any doubt as to whether one ought, or
ought not, to do a certain thing, the only safe way
is to give conscience *'the benefit of the doubt."
No child is too young for such an appeal, for con-
science begins its work almost as soon as the
earliest perceptive powers. **Is it right?'* ''Then
ought you to do it?" These are questions that the
youngest will appreciate, and it is sad that such
questions so often give place to mere appeals to
expediency, or self-interest, or pride. In view of
this fact, it is not strange that so few grown per-
sons are able to stand boldly for what they believe
to be right, even if they have to stand alone.
How can the moral fiber be otherwise than flabby
if it has never been strengthened?

There has been much discussion of the question, whether
it is always right to follow conscience. The case seems to be
a very plain one, We can not conceive that one could be
justified in violating his conscience, — in doing what he be-
lieves to be wrong. And yet it must be granted that, owing to
a wrong judgment, conscience may prompt to an act wrong in
itself. Where, then, is the responsibility ? Can one be
blamed for doing such an act? Surely, he can not be blamed
for following his conscience; but if his wrong judgment is due
to any fault of his, then he is to be blamed for thinking that
wrong is right.

Moral Training. — If morality is any thing
more than refined self-interest, then the cultivation

Training, 69

of conscience must lie at the basis of all right
moral training. The psychological elements of
morality are four in number, viz.: the intuitive idea,
that there is such a thing as right ; the judgment,
which determines whether any particular thing is
right; conscience, that moves us towards the right;
and the will, that chooses or refuses the right. All
true moral training must have regard to all these;
it must recognize the underlying idea; it must train
the judgment ; it must appeal to conscience ; and it
must lead the will to the proper choice.

That such moral training should receive much
attention in school can not be questioned ; character
is more than intellectual power or acquisition.
That such training is too much neglected is lament-
ably true. But, perhaps, it is not very easy to tell
how such training should be given. We may say,
negatively, that merely reading books on morals,
even the Bible itself, will not give it; nor will the
teaching of a religious creed, even the soundest;
nor will a discussion of moral questions, nor long
lectures on morals, nor any amount of namby-
pamby, goodish exhortation. It must be genuine
training as the term has already been defined.
Generally, such, training will not follow any set
lessons in morals. It must be brought about by
putting conscience into all that is done; and the
teacher who would succeed in doing this with his
pupils must be a living example before their eyes.

Moral lessons may be drawn incidentally from the lessons
in reading or history ; sometimes, a story may be told, or a

70 Pedagogy,

case supposed, from which a moral lesson may be taught
effectively. Gow's "Good Morals and Gentle Manners" is a
book that may be of much service to the teacher in such
work.

Let specific lessons be given, not according to
the programme, but as occasion for them arises.
Has the teacher discovered that his boys play
marbles for "keeps?" Here is a call for such a
lesson. Let him take the winner, at some quiet
and convenient time, and ply him with questions
something like the following, after the manner of
old Socrates: Whose are those fine marbles?
Whose were they? Did John care any thing for
them? What did you give him for them? What
made you play with him for them? Was not the
reason because you wanted to get what John
owned and cared for, without giving him any thing
valuable for it? Is this the reason why gamblers
play their games? Is it the thing that makes men
steal? That makes them cheat? That makes them
commit murder sometimes ? How much dishonesty
would there be in the world if no one ever had
such a wish as this? Then, can this be right f

We think such an appeal, if skillfully and kindly
made, could hardly fail to convince the judgment
and to move the conscience. In a similar way,
other principles of morality should be treated, as
occasion calls for the treatment.

The W^ill. — A man with a weak will is a pitiable
object. It is the will that gives one his moving
force ; that makes him a power rather than a mere

Training. 7 1

helpless thing. One who lacks will power is like a
log floating at the mercy of the current ; while one
with a strong will is like a steamboat, that can not
only stem the current, but can make headway
against it. There is no danger that one will have
too much will, if only it is joined with right motives
and sound judgment. The man of strong will is
not necessarily willful in the bad use of that word.
A man of strong will need not be mulish.

There has been much discussion of the question
whether a child's ''will should be broken?*' The
answer turns wholly upon what is meant by
''breaking" the will. If by this is meant simply
that the child must be taught to bend his will to
rightful authority, then it is one of the first lessons
to be learned; it is an act of the greatest kindness
to the child to breal^ his will in this sense. But if,
by breaking the will, we mean to destroy its power,
or to diminish it, then it is a heinous crime to do
it. For, one with his will broken, in this sense, is
like a watch with the mainspring broken. Instead
of this, special effort should be made to strengthen
the child's will power. Use all reasonable means
to lead him to cease saying "I can't," and to culti-
vate the habit of saying "lean" and "I will."
Of course, he should be taught to judge rightly as
to whether a thing ought to be done before he
says, "I will do it." Even kindly ridicule or
gentle sarcasm may be used with good effect here,
and sometimes resort may well be had to something,
a little more vigorous.

72 Pedagogy,

We remember when a certain teacher sent a young woman
to the blackboard, and she, after a feeble effort, whimpered
out, " I don't think I can do it." " You can,'" thundered the
teacher, with a stamp of his foot. She hastily snatched a
tear from the corner of each eye, and did the work. We
believe that discipline was a " means of grace " to that
young woman.

But, in addition to direct efforts to strengthen
the child's will, we want to say very earnestly that
neither parents nor teacher should thwart his will,
except for a good reason. Many a will has been
weakened, if not wholly destroyed, because his
teacher or parent, thoughtlessly or wantonly, has
trampled on his wishes and desires and purposes
until sullenness or despair has resulted.

Attention must accompany every successful
mental effort. There are two^ ways in which the
man may be led to give attention: one is by at-
tracting it, so that he attends without effort; the
other, by inducing him to attend through sheer
force of his will power. The attention of the child
can be gained in the first way only. It can be at-
tracted and held for a short time only ; but his will
is not strong enough to enable him to attend
against his inclination, nor after he has become
weary. And yet he must attend, if he is to do
any thing to any purpose. Nor can his attention
be secured by frequent calls for attention, nor even
by authority. It must be attracted at first, and
Jts object must be changed frequently. It is a
gradual process, by which he gets the power to

Training. *J2^

command his attention^ and this power must be
gained by a judicious course of training.

To secure this training, let the teacher be careful
to make no statement to the child, make no expla-
nation, lay no command, etc., until he knows in
his own mind, with perfect clearness, what he
means to say; then let him say it slowly, clearly,
in few words, and say it but once. Then let him
insist rigidly that what is thus given shall be re-
membered and observed.

Let the teacher form the habit of never speaking
to his school, his class, or to a single pupil, until
he has complete attention, and let him stop speak-
ing the instant attention wanders. In this way,
every thing that is done in school will be an exer-
cise in training the attention ; but, occasionally,
special exercises for this purpose alone may be in-
troduced. Let the teacher recite a sentence, to be
repeated exactly; let him give directions for certain
movements to be made, and then require an exact
performance, etc. By such processes, and others
that a thoughtful and ingenious teacher will dis-
cover, the child is trained until his attention will
obey his will promptly, fully, and successfully.
When this is done, he is on the high road to the
attainment of both knowledge and power.

Conception. — A bright mind is one whose Con-
ceptive Power is clear and strong. Dullness results
from lack of this power. * * Parrot '•' recitations are
of words without the accompanying conceptions.
Mechanical reading is calling over words, in this

Pcd.— 7.

74 Pedagogy.

way, from a book. Mechanical, meaningless math-
ematical work is the blind following of rules while
the conceptive power is asleep. Much of our
school work, we are sorry to say, is performed in
such a way as to put this power to sleep ; and the
more we work with tongue, or pen, or hand while
conception sleeps, the more soundly it will sleep
while we thus work. This is the process by which
many little children, who entered school bright,
keen, and inquisitive, are made dull and stupid
after going a few months. We believe compara-
tively few teachers understand the relative import-
ance of this power, or how to arouse and train it.

A really ** lively'* school exercise of any kind is
not to be measured by the noise made, nor by the
amount of manual activity, but by the fullness and
clearness of the conceptive power used. No read-
ing by older or younger pupils will be correct, —
except, perhaps, with the correctness of mechanical
imitation, — until conception gives life to the words
spoken. No geography lesson is worth any thing
that does not fill the mind with correct and lively
pictures. No mathematical work is any thing but a
mechanical ** grind" till the pupil **sees" the rela-
tion of the parts with his ** mind's eye."

Imagination, as we have already defined the term,
is the exercise of the conceptive power in one of
its forms; hence, the pedagogic value of a judicious
use of the imagination. But the conceptive power
has its part to play in understanding and reasoning,
as well as in memory and imagination. All our

Training. 7 5

school work, from the lowest grade to the highest,
should recognize this fact, and the true use of the
power of conception should be observed in every
school exercise.

We have been able to give only a few hints in regard to
the training of the powers, but the thoughtful teacher will
readily see that this training is his great work — it alone treats
the mind like a living organism ; while a mere acquiring of
knowledge, a storing of the memory, treats it like a dead
receptacle.

5. Kinds of Education,

' I. Physical.

2. Intellectual.

3. Moral.

^ 4. Spiritual?

Kinds of Education. — We have now completed
what we have to say directly about training the
mental powers. We have also tried to show what
education really is. We often speak of different
kinds of education. Education is divided into
kinds or sorts, according to two different ideas. If
we consider it in relation to its end, or purpose,
we have two sorts; viz.. General and Special.
These were defined and explained in Chapter V.
If we consider the different powers to be educated,
we have Physical^ Intellectual^ Moral, and perhaps
Spiritual, education.

y6 Pedagogy.

Of course, physical education has to do with the
powers of the body; its aim is to produce health,
strength, and dexterity.

Intellectual education has to do with those powers
by which we know ; its purpose is to give skill and
certainty in acquiring facts, in remembering them,
and in discovering their true significance and rela-
tion.

Moral education has to do with the training of
those powers by which we come to know the
right, to love it, and to choose and follow it. We
have already discussed this at some length.

Spiritual education, if there be such as distinct
from moral education, means the growth and culti-
vation of the divine life begun in the human soul
by the renewing effect of a Divine Power: it is
what the minister calls *' growth in grace.*'

In all these forms of education, the general
method is the same ; viz. , By the wise use of the
powers involved^ to induce desired habits.

Physical Education. — Intellectual education is,
without doubt, the main purpose of our schools,
but it should not be the only purpose, as many
seem to suppose. Both physical and moral educa-
tion should receive careful attention in all our
schools. The pupil should be taught to use his
body rightly in sitting, standing, walking, etc.
The body is the mind's instrument and servant;
through it alone can the mind be acted upon from
without, and at the same time it is the only
medium through which the mind can manifest

Training. jj

itself. For this reason, it is very important that the
body should be so trained that it may serve the
mind efficiently and faithfully; hence, the import-
ance of physical culture. But it is well to remem-
ber always that physical strength and dexterity are
to be sought as means to an end, — not as an end
in themselves. When physical training is made an
end in itself, as in the case of the professional
athlete^ prize-fighter, etc., it not only is a very un-
worthy end, but it seems to defeat its own purpose.
Very few prize-fighters, gymnasts, or oarsmen
retain vigorous health till old age ; in truth, few of
them reach old age.

Education Certain. — Before turning to another
subject, we wish to say that an education of some
kind is ineTntable — we must be educated, "Education
is cultured growth," — if the child lives, his powers
will grow, and their growth will be modified by the
influences that surround him. Hence, there is no
escape from education but by death or insanity.
So, the choice is not between a good education and
no education, but between a good education and a
bad one. If the child's growing powers are not
trained as they should be at home, at school, at
church, etc., they will be sure to be trained as they
should not be, elsewhere. Not all our schools are
in school-houses, under teachers licensed by the
superintendents and paid by public funds. There
are schools in the streets, on dry goods boxes, in
saloons, and in worse places. They are well sup-
plied with teachers; they have no vacations; and

78 Pedagogy.

they send their graduates out by swarms. Some
of these graduates tax the state much more heavily
to pay for courts, and prisons, and poor-houses
than they would to have provided them with the
best possible education at the public expense.

Any thoughtful person who walks the crowded streets, in
the more degraded portions of our large cities, must have
some very important questions thrust upon him. As he ob-
serves the swarming multitudes of little children, unclean and
unkempt, too young to attend the public schools, he must ask
himself if it would not be cheaper to care for these unfortu-
nates while they are children than to attempt to restrain and
punish them when they are fully developed into the hardened
criminals that so many of them are sure to become. Would
it not cost less money to make the attempt to form them
rightly than it will to reform them, or to punish them when
they have received the education that all their present sur-
roundings tend to give them ?

Acting on this thought, one of the wisest schemes of
modern private philanthrophy is the establishment of kinder-
gartens for these neglected waifs. But would it not be wise
economy for the public to bear the expense of kindergartens
for this purpose from the public funds? This question de-
mands public attention and discussion. We have no doubt
about the true answer.

The resources of a state are not confined to its
mineral wealth, its fertile soil, its navigable waters,
etc. The mental and moral power of its rising
generation outweighs them all ; if educated and
directed rightly, it will do more to advance the
state in every kind of prosperity, material wealth
included. But, if badly educated, it is not simply
so much power and wealth lost, but it becomes a

Training. 79

-'■

negative quantity, — a power for evil and waste.
If this is true, it is hard to see why the state is not
bound to spend all necessary sums for any and all
appliances which shall tend to educate the powers
of its youth rightly; quite as much, to say the
least, as it is bound to foster mining, agriculture,
commerce, and other things that tend directly to
develop its material resources.

Here is the strongest argument for high schools and col-
leges which shall offer the fullest education to all, at the pub-
lic cost. Among the lowly and the poor is to be found, in the
germ, some of the best directive ability in the state. The
state can not afford to lose this ability simply because private
purses can not provide the means for its development. The
richest products of any state, estimated even on a pecuniary
basis alone, are its best men and women. It is time that we
had done with that narrow view which sees in public educa-
tion only the means of fitting the young for some imaginary
" sphere," or the mere preparing of the future citizen to cast
his ballot without danger to the commonwealth.

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(8o)

CHAPTER IX.

THE TEACHER.

The most important factor in any school, or sys-
tem of education, is the teacher who directs its
daily operations. If he be able, well -trained, and
efficient, good results may be confidently expected,
even though much be wanting. But, if the teacher
be seriously deficient, nothing can supply the lack.
People seem to forget this truth sometimes, and to
think that if the buildings be grand and good, if
the apparatus be abundant, if the system be the
best, the result must be satisfactory, let the teacher
be what he may. A moment's reflection ought to
show the unwisdom of any such expectation.

His Motives. — Let us, then, consider some of
the things belonging to a good teacher. And we
will begin by asking. What are proper motives to
prompt him to take up this work? We will men-
tion three : a desire to do goody a love for the work,
and money,

A Desire to do Good. — One who has no desire
to do good, who cares not whether he does any
thing to benefit the world, is not likely to be worth
much in any calling; certainly he is not fit to teach
the young. One who does faithfully any work that

(8i)

82 Pedagogy.

the world needs does good and deserves honor.
But there are few occupations in which one can do
more to bless his fellows than in wisely developing
and training the powers of the rising generation.
And if one believes himself able to do such work
successfully, the wish to serve the world in this
way is a noble motive to prompt him to undertake
the work.

Love for the Work. — One will do any work
better if he loves to do it; but there are some
kinds of coarse, . physical labor, like digging ditches,
etc., that we suppose one might do well even if he
disliked them. This is not true of the higher
kinds of work, and certainly it is not true of teach-
ing. We do not mean, of course, that a teacher
must love every thing connected with his work.
All work has its drudgery, and teaching is no ex-
ception. But the teacher should have such a
genuine love for his work as a whole that it will
enable him to bear the drudgery, and to do it faith-
fully, without being enslaved by it.

Pay. — We shall find people who are ready to
declare that the two motives named are enough,
and that it is degrading to let the thought of
money have any weight. On the other hand, we
shall find those who will sneer at these motives,
and avow boldly that they care nothing for ideals
or sentiment, — they are practical, and money is the
only motive that should have any weight. Now,
the truth is with neither extreme. We should
cherish our ideals, if they are noble; in no other

The Teacher, 83

way can we avoid falling into sordidness. But
there are good and honorable reasons why a teacher
may regard his pecuniary compensation as a proper
motive, and insist that it shall be reasonable in
amount.

First. — The teacher has wants which he can not
honestly supply, as a general thing, unless he re-
ceive money for his work. Few can afford to
work for nothing, even if so disposed.

Second. — ^Justice requires that he should receive
pay for his work: the world is so constituted that
those who give ought to receive.

Third. — People do not prize highly that which
costs them nothing. Even our bountiful Creator
has arranged it so that his gifts mostly come in re-
sponse to our efforts. If the farmer expect a crop,
he must toil for it. If the student desire knowl-
edge and culture, he must put forth his efforts, or
his desires are futile. Sunlight, air, and, in some
places, water are about the only gifts bestowed
upon us without some sort of expenditure on our
part. And it is better so ; it is more truly charita-
ble to help the pauper to help himself than it is to
bestow a gift upon him. It is neither justy benev-
olenty nor wise to give good things to those who can
pay for them but will not. Hence, the good teacher
is right when he demands that the community
which receives his services shall pay for them a fair
compensation. If there is a community needing
his services which is too poor to pay for them, and
he is able to teach without pay, he may be justified

84 Pedagogy.

in working for nothing, or for an unreasonably
small sum, but not otherwise. However, if he has
agreed to work for small pay, or for nothing, he
ought then to do his best : the smallness of his pay
is no good excuse for poor work.

How Estimated? — It is no easy matter to esti-
mate the money value of a good teacher's serv-
ices. Some one has said that the world's work
may be divided into two kinds ; viz. , job-work and
professional work. The first is work that has to do
with material things only; its value is easily com-
puted ; and as its benefit can be exactly measured
in money, so can its compensation. But profes-
sional work has to do with things that can not be
measured in money. Who can tell the value of the
physician's services when he saves the life of a
friend, or of a minister's if he lead one up to a
higher moral and religious plane of life, or of the
artist's when he cultivates and gratifies our aesthetic
nature? If such work be good, money can not
measure it; if it be poor, it is worthless, or worse.
The work of the true teacher must be classed as
professional work. No one can tell just how many
dollars a month will be an equivalent for it. How,
then, shall we determine how much money such a
teacher should receive?

Amount. — We answer, he should receive enough
to serve three purposes; viz., First, to provide for
the wants of himself and his family, if he has one, —
and he ought to have one in due time; Second, to
provide means of irrtprovement by books, travel,

The Teacher. 85

etc.; Third, to enable him to lay by a reasonable
sum for sickness and old age. It seems clear that
a good teacher's services should command so much ;
and, if we may speak for the fraternity of teachers,
we should say, This is enough. We would not have
teaching become so remunerative that people would
rush into the business merely because it might be
an easy way to get rich. We think, however, the
danger in this direction is not very serious at
present.

Pensions. — In some European countries, they
obviate the necessity of the third requirement we
have mentioned by giving pensions to superannu-
ated teachers; and the same thing has been pro-
posed in some of our States. We disapprove of
such a thing most heartily. In the first place, it is
npt just : one of two things is true ; either the
teacher has earned his pension or he has not. If
he has earned it, he should have had it at the time ;
if he has not earned it, he should never have it.
But the most serious objection is that such a course
takes the teacher out of the conditions of ordinary
men. Nothing can be worse for him. One of the
worst tendencies of his profession is to withdraw
himself from the pursuits and responsibilities of
men in general. Nothing should be done to in-
crease that tendency. Let his circumstances be
made as nearly like those of other men as possible,
and then let him meet all of a man's responsibili-
ties. If he meet with misfortune, let him receive
gifts just as any one else would do ; but give him

86 Pedagogy,

a fair compensation; and then, if he squander it,
let him suffer, as others do.

Preparation. — One of the most disheartening
things connected with our pubHc schools is the lack
of fitness on the part of the teachers. A large
proportion of them — perhaps a majority -^ have
made less preparation for their delicate and difficult
work than they would have made for the most or-
dinary trade. And this state of things exists be-
cause the community permit it to exist. Men will
not take a piece of old harness, to be mended, to
any one who has not learned the harness-maker's
trade, nor order a pair of shoes made except by a
skilled workman. Yet, these same men will send
their children to be taught by some green boy or
girl who has never spent one half-hour in special
preparation for the work. This is a mystery that
can be explained only by supposing that such
people do not realize the fact that preparation for
teaching needs to be made and can be made.

Teachers sometimes judge parents very unjustly. We
have heard it said that parents must love their calves better
than they love their children, for they will visit their calves
every day, but they will not go to the school where their
children are taught during a whole term. This is fallacious ;
the parent does not regard it so needful to visit the school as
it is to care for his calves. Nor does he see how necessary it
is for the teacher to be prepared for his work, else he would
insist upon it. It may be safely assumed that almost all
parents — even the ignorant and vicious — desire the best things
tor their children, but often they do not know what the best
things are.

The Teacher, 87

Of course, we are now speaking of the prepara-
tion for the teacher's work, which should be made
before taking charge of a school. It often happens
that, if one has some native gift for teaching, he
may enter upon his work without any preparation;
and yet, at the end of a few terms spent in the
school-room, he may be found a skilled workman.
Probably he might acquire the skill of a blacksmith
in a similar way; but the waste of iron and coal
that would attend his apprentice efforts would be a
sufficient barrier in that case. What a pity that
the waste of children's powers and time can not be
estimated as easily as the waste of minerals !
Every one has heard of the reply of the celebrated
French oculist, when some one complimented his
skill in operating on the eye: '*Yes," said he, '*I
may have some skill now, but I spoiled a hatful of
eyes in learning."

Normal schools are intended specially for the preparing
of teachers for their business ; and this should be their sole
purpose, — academic work, as such, is foreign to their true aim.
There can be no question, other things being equal, that any
one will make a better teacher by attending even a tolerably
good Normal school. Still, it does not follow that such a
school is the only place where the preparation can be made.
Multitudes of excellent teachers have never attended a Nor-
mal school. Nor can the best Normal school make a first-
rate teacher out of every one who enters it. But what we
assert, most earnestly and confidently, is that, somewnere and
somehow^ by thought, reading, instruction, observation, or all
combined, the teacher should be required to make reasonable
preparation for his work before he is permitted to enter
upon it.

88 Pedagogy.

What Preparation? — ^There are three distinct
fields in which preparation should be made.

First, — ^The candidate for the teacher's office
should become well acquainted with the nature of
children. He should understand their physical
nature, its laws, needs, and possibilities. He
should understand the laws of mind, both in its
action and in its growth.. He should understand
the springs and movements of the human being
which result in a good moral character or its op-
posite. In short, he should become versed in a
knowledge of what we call *' human nature" in its
broadest sense. But, besides a general knowledge
of human nature, he needs to be specially ac-
quainted with that complicated and mysterious
thing in its plastic, formative y and growing stages^ for
it is the material on which he is to work. What
would be said of the tailor ignorant of the nature
and qualities of cloth ? or of the nursery-man know-
ing nothing of the nature of plants or the mysteries
of plant-life? We require even of a sewing girl
that she should know something of the structure
and operation of the machine she uses.

Second. — He should be well acquainted with the
branches of knowledge that he is to teach. And
here we must note that the teacher's knowledge of
subjects ought to be of a special kind, — it must ex-
tend to underlying principles. One may know how
to read very well, and still be ignorant of the prin-
ciples upon which good reading depends. One
may be able to make all the computations necessary

*•*•.

The Teacher. 89

in the counting-room, and have a ** plentiful lack"
of knowledge of the principles of arithmetic, — so
essential to one who is to teach the science. And
similar remarks may be made about all the studies
of the school ; all need to be acquired by the
teacher in a way quite different from that which is
necessary simply for practical use. We assert that
a teacher's knowledge should be of a special qtmlity^
whether its quantity be more or less; but, of
course, in quantity it should much exceed what he
is likely to be called upon to impart.

Third, — He should be prepared both in the
principles and the methods of imparting knowledge,
and in the principles and methods of governing and
managing children no less. Unchanging and un-
changeable principles underlie all correct teaching
and management. These principles can be investi-
gated and acquired; and a knowledge of them,
when arranged systematically, constitutes the science
of instruction. All good methods rest upon and
are shaped by these principles. Methods, or rather
modes, may vary indefinitely, while the underlying
principles are the same. But the teacher should
make a careful study of methods, that he may
avoid bad ones, and that he may be ready to adapt
or to devise good ones for the several cases that will
arise in his experience.

It will be seen at once that, while the candidate for teach-
ing should be well prepared in these three distinct fields, the
ordinary examinations for license to teach have regard only

to the second, and in that even they are often very far from
Pcd.-a.

90 Pedagogy.

searching. It is not so easy to test the candidate's knowledge
in the other two ; but some tests could be applied, and they
would be applied if the community demanded it. The truth
is, however, that instead of making such a demand, the com-
munity are more likely to find fault if the examiner is rigid
and exacting in the one third that he does attempt.

Progress. — But the teacher's preparation must
not stop with getting ready for his school ; it
should continue until the last day that he comes
before pupils as their teacher.

Daily. — We assert, as an unquestionable truth,
that he should make a daily preparation for every
class that he is to teach. No matter how familiar
the subject, he should bring it before his mind in
order that he may be fresh upon it, that he may
have its inherent difficulties clearly in mind, and
that he may adapt his teaching of it to the personal
peculiarities of the particular Johns and Susans that
compose his present class. Furthermore, he should
not be content always to present the subject in the
same way, nor to confine himself to the same plan
of removing difficulties. He should seek new and
attractive ways of presenting the most familiar sub-
jects, and this for his own sake no less than for
his pupils'. In no other way can he keep out of
''ruts,*' or keep up his own interest in what he is
doing, and thus avoid that humdrum monotony
which is a special bane of the teacher's work.

For Higher Rank. — Once more, besides his
daily preparation for his class-work, he should make
daily preparation for higher professional rank. It

The Teacher, 91

may be so in many other things, but certainly in
the teacher's work there is no standing still, — ^not
to go forward is to go back.

Some years ago, Mr. P., of Massachusetts, told this story
of his experience as an examiner of teachers. One day, after
examining a candidate, he told him that he must refuse him
a certificate. " Well,*' said the man, *' I think that is strange;
I taught school five years ago in this very town, and you, Mr.
P., gave me my license. I think it is a pity if I don't know
as much as I did five years ago." Said Mr. P., "I think you
do know as much as you did then, but no more, and that is a
sufficient reason for refusing you a license." Was not Mr. P.
right?

This preparation for higher professional rank
should be of a three-fold nature:

First, — ^The teacher should constantly push for-
ward in the subjects he is called upon to teach.
Who can gather in all knowledge on such familiar
subjects as Geography and History, to say nothing
of the higher walks of Literature, Science, and
Mathematics?

Second.— He should select some department of
knowledge not particularly connected with his
school-room work, and become a faithful and con-
stant student in that direction. Let him consult
his own taste in this matter ; the range of subjects
is unlimited, — Philosophy, Literature, Art, History,
Natural Science, Theology, etc., all open inviting
doors to those whose tastes lead that way. It is
important that the teacher study in the way pro-
posed, not simply to broaden his knowledge, to

92 Pedagogy,

keep his manhood from being smothered in the
schoolmaster, but because he can not in any other
way keep himself in the true attitude of a learner.
And one who is not in the attitude of a learner is
unfit to lead others into that attitude, or to direct
their work should they chance to be found in such
an attitude.

Third, — He ought to keep up constant profes-
sional work by reading professional literature,
books and periodicals, and by attending and taking
part in professional meetings. The literature of
Pedagogics is very considerable and very respect-
able ; and it is growing every day, both in quantity
and character. And yet how many teachers are
there who never read a book on teaching? Per-
haps they do not wish to do so ; we fear some
would prefer a- dime novel. And how many take
no teachers' periodical? Still, those very persons
are perhaps the most clamorous to be counted
members of a ''profession!** What should we
say of a physician who read no books, and took no
periodical, treating of medicine ? What should we
say of a lawyer who did not know any thing of
Blackstone? But are not some members of the
teachers* '' profession ** perfectly ignorant of any
knowledge of Pestalozzi?

Complaint is often made that society does not give teachers
the rank and the consideration to which their office • should
entitle them. No doubt this is true of some communities and
of some teachers ; but, when one observes the lack of culture,
of earnestness, and of true professional spirit so common to a

The Teacher, 93

large number of those who teach, he can not avoid the con-
clusion that, on the average, teachers are appreciated as
highly as they deserve.

"The fault ... is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Further, the teacher should not only read pro-
fessionally, but he should write 'professionally for
teachers' periodicals or the common newspaper.
The editor of almost any paper will be glad to
open his columns to well written articles on educa-
tion. We have more than hinted that the com-
munity need instruction on educational themes;
who should instruct them, if not the teacher?
And the readiest medium for the instruction of the
community is the newspaper.

Nor can he afford to absent himself from the
gatherings of his fellow-teachers, — in the Institute,
or the County, State, or National Association. He
needs -to do this that he may gain the quickening
that comes from social intercourse with those en-
gaged in like pursuits, as well as to become ac-
quainted with the general drift of educational
discussion.

Objection. — But here, of course, we shall be
met by the school-keeper, who says, '*It costs
money to buy books and periodicals, to travel to
distant places, and to pay hotel bills. My salary
is small; I can not afford it." Deluded pedagogue,
you can not ** afford" not to do it! Money in-
vested in this way will pay you better in money
than if loaned on bond and mortgage. You look

94 Pedagogy.

longingly at the places filled by your fellow-teachers
who get good salaries. Let us tell you that we
are pointing out one of the surest roads to those
very places. We have known a great many young
teachers who have risen from your position to such
places, and we think every one spent money out of
his meager salary in the very ways we are com-
mending, although he could not ** afford" it. But
it brought returns at an excellent rate of interest.
As well might the carpenter say, *'I must exhaust
my strength with this dull, old, worthless plane ;
I can not * afford* to pay money for a better one;"
or the farmer say, * * I can not * afford ' to pay
money for seed-corn."

It is true, however, that in some country districts a
studious teacher loses, at least temporarily, the confidence of
the people. They are possessed with the notion that the
teacher's business is simply to impart information, and that if
he be prepared for his work he must have acquired* all the
information he needs to impart. Hence, any effort of his in
the way of study appears to them to be an exhibition of weak-
ness. Such foolish notions will disappear as people come to
have more correct views of the work of teaching.

We have urged that the teacher should always
be an active student in order that he may be, and
continue to be, a useful and efficient teacher. This
is by no means all, however. In no other way can
he save himself from becoming a juiceless ** peda-
gogue," such as our great novelists have sometimes
ridiculed. Furthermore, it is very apparent that
intellectual activity tends to prolong life. A very

The Teacher, 95

large number of the world's best thinkers have re-
tained their full powers to a very advanced age,
and there is good reason to believe that their ad-
vanced age was largely due to their intellectual
activity. Hence, it is for the teacher's highest per-
sonal interest never to relax his efforts as an earnest
student.

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CHAPTER X.
THE TEACHER. — Continued,

The old proverb, **As is the teacher, so is the
school,*' is generally true. The school is what the
teacher makes it, — it is largely a reflection of him-
self. If he is prompt, accurate, and thorough, — or
if he is slovenly, turbulent, or untruthful, — the
school will probably take on the same character, to
a great degree. For good or evil, the teacher is
reproducing himself in his pupils. And, as many
of his pupils will become teachers in due time, his
influence is constantly widening. The author well
remembers that in his first school he scarcely un-
dertook any thing in the way of teaching or discip-
line without imagining how a former teacher of his
would do were he in his place, — the image of that
man was constantly before his mind.

It is of the greatest importance that the teacher
should be worthy of imitation in all respects. But
the faults of a teacher who is generally good and
strong are likely to do more harm than the faults
of a weaker teacher, for he makes a deeper impres-
sion on his pupils ; and, in their efforts to imitate
him, they are quite as likely to seize on his weak
points for copying as his strong ones. Perhaps

Ped.— 9. (97)

^8 Pedagogy.

they are more likely to do so, — for crude minds
seem inclined to believe that they are like some
great man when they have caught one of his tricks
or mannerisms. Some young men may have fan-
cied that they were like Horace Greeley because
of their poor handwriting.

Of course, it follows that the teacher's responsi-
bility is very great. He should realize this fact, and
it should make him thoughtful, faithful, and diligent.
But he should not allow it to weigh him down.
He should do his best, and then leave it; it is of
no use to worry about results. In one of her last
addresses to her pupils, Mary Lyon uttered the
famous saying, ** There is only one thing in the
universe that I fear, — either that I shall not know
my duty, or shall not have strength to do it."
There is nothing else that any one ever ought to
fear.

Aptitude. — ^The old Latin proverb says, ' ' Poeta
nasciturnon fity'* — the poet is born, not made. To
a certain extent, the same thing is true of teachers.
Probably any one of ordinary capacity will be able
to teach respectably by due preparation and dili-
gence; but no one will be likely to reach a high
place in the ranks of teachers if he has not some
special gift for teaching. And native ability for
teaching is not the same thing as native ability in
general. Some persons most highly endowed with
eLbility for scholarship succeed very poorly as teach-
ers; on the other hand, some make excellent
teachers whose general ability is not marked.

The Teacher. * 99

Every teacher in a Normal school will discover that his
brightest pupils are not sure to make the best teachers. What
is the true course for one who finds, on attempting to teach,
that he has gifts in that direction ? Sometimes persons seem
to think that because they are thus gifted they may trust
wholly to their gifts, and dispense with careful preparation.
The true course is just the opposite of this: gifts specially
adapted to any work indicate the propriety of special prepara-
tion for that work, — a principle laid down in our discussion of
special education.

Health. — ^The mind can act, or be acted upon,
only through the body. Hence, the importance of
a healthy body to a mind-worker. The notion that
feeble, sickly people, who can not stand the strain
of physical labor, are proper persons to teach
school is very unreasonable. Some persons know,
from trying both, that it is much easier to plow
than to teach school when one has the headache.
Besides, there are few occupations more filled with
petty annoyances than teaching; the teacher can
hardly meet them properly if he is in ill -health.
Further, the weakness and irritability attending ill-
ness are likely to cause him to provoke new annoy-
ances, where good health would have enabled him
to overcome such as naturally arise. Of all men,
the teacher needs a clear head and a cheerful
heart ; and these are hardly possible to one who has
a diseased body.

How TO Preserve Health. — If the teacher's
health is reasonably good, how is he to keep it so?
We will venture to offer a few common-sense sug-
gestions, not as a physician, but as a person who

lOO ' Pedagogy.

has learned something from observation and experi-
ence; and the suggestions we offer to the teacher
are quite as important for the pupil. We will first
mention two of the ways "How not to do it."

First — Do not expect to keep your health by a
constant thinking about it. Do not keep up a con-
tinual study to see if you can not detect some
symptoms of disease in yourself. Believe yourself
well, if you are not obliged to believe otherwise.
Give thought enough to the subject to take reason-
able care of yourself, but no more.

Second, — Put far off the notion that you can
abuse your body, and then make it as good as it
was before by taking medicine. Not a few people
destroy their health by frequent dosing. You may
have heard of the epitaph :

" I was well, and wished to be better,
Took physic, and here I am.**

We fear it would be appropriate for more tomb-
stones than have ever borne it. Medicine is
doubtless oecessary at times, but only as a dire
alternative. Nor do we believe medicine will ever
make one "as good as new.**

Good Air. — We need not stop to prove that
good air is absolutely essential to good health. We
should spend a reasonable amount of time in the
open air ; and we need pure air in our work-rooms,
and especially in our sleeping-rooms. Few of our
school-rooms have any proper provision for securing
good air ; and the air becomes vitiated so gradually

The Teacher. loi

that we are very likely not to know that we are
suffering from it if we do not oblige ourselves to
stop and think about it. But what shall we do
about it? To drop a window from the top will
probably let a flood of cold air fall on some one*s
head; to raise a window from the bottom is no
better. Windows may easily be provided with a
close-fitting board to be put in front of the open-
ing, so that the current will strike no one. But, in
general, the best thing that can be done in an ordi-
nary, unventilated school-room, is to take time, as
often as need be, put the school in motion, and
then open the windows wide on both sides, com-
pletely changing the whole body of air.

Equilibrium of Bodily Temperature. — In a
healthy body, in good conditions, there is a certain
equilibrium or balancing of temperature between its
different parts which can not be disturbed without
danger to health. One of the chief dangers from
bad modes of ventilation is in the drafts^ — and a
draft is dangerous because it is likely to disturb the
equilibrium of bodily temperature by cooling a
part of the body. The same danger follows the
wetting of the feet, or sitting with part of the
clothing dampened. Heavy mufflers worn about
the throat are dangerous for the same reason ; they
heat the throat unduly, and when they are removed
a rapid cooling of the parts is likely to follow, —
and the equilibrium is disturbed. The extremities
are the parts most exposed to danger, as they are
farthest from the center of life and heat. The legs

I02 Pedagogy.

and feet should be well protected, — especially the
soles.

There is much wisdom in the old proverb, " Keep the feet
warm, and the head cool." The author was once riding with
Dr. Calvin Cutter over the bleak hills of New Hampshire,
facing a cold November wind. The Doctor was provided
with a heavy shawl; but, instead of wrapping it about his
shoulders, he.: wrapped it around his legs and feet.

Cleanliness. — Our bodies are wasting all the
time ; particles of matter are dying, and new ones
are taking their places. When we cease to die in
this way, we are certain to die altogether. The
dead, worn-out particles must be removed, and
nature has provided for their removal in three
ways : a great part passes off through the lungs, a
part through the bowels, and a large part through
the pores of the skin. If any one of these avenues
of escape is stopped, the others must be over-
loaded, or disease will follow, — probably both will
result. The exudations through the pores contain
watery vapor; when this passes away, the dead
matter remains, closing the pores.

A chill will do the same thing ; hence, Dr. Cutter says, " If
you were to varnish a man all over, he would seem to die of a
cold.'* For the reason given above, when the pores are
clogged, diseases of the lungs or the bowels are likely to
follow. Probably, much of the "Summer Complaint" is due
to chills, or dirt on the skin, when the innocent water-melons
or other fruits bear the blame. The danger from sitting in a
room "just a little too cold" arises from the closing of the
pores.

The Teacher. 103

When the pores are closed by exudations, the
skin should be put in working condition again by
bathing, or friction, or both. No definite rules can
be given as to how often this should be done,
whether cold water or warm should be used, etc.
It should be done often enough to keep the skin
clean. If, after using cold water, the skin can be
put into a healthy glow by friction, then a cold bath
is good ; but the bath should never leave a chill.

Exercise. — No one can be healthy without a
due amount of muscular exercise. Care in this
regard is especially necessary to the teacher, be-
cause his work furnishes but little exercise. Young
people leaving active pursuits for the school-room,
whether teachers or students, are likely to lose
health if they are not very careful in the matter of
exercise. But no fixed rules can prescribe just the
best kind or amount of exercise; the needs vary
with the individual. Walking, riding, playing vig-
orous games, etc., are all good forms of exercise.
But, in general, it is best that the exercise have a
purpose in itself apart from the fact that it is to
preserve health. This is the advantage of a game,
or a walk for the study of botany or geology, over
the dull ** constitutional."

Dr. Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst College, was in a state
of health so feeble that his friends had nearly given him up to
die ; but just then he became interested in geological studies.
He took long walks to find specimens ; and the result was that
he not only regained his health, but became one of the fore-
most geologists of his time.

I04 Pedagogy,

Most of the common forms of exercise call into
action only a part of the muscles; well devised
gymnastics exercise all, — hence, their advantage.
The "health-lift" is highly commended.

Food. — In respect to food, one man's wants can
not be made the guide for another, either as to
kind or amount. There is truth in the proverb,
"One man's meat is another man's poison." The
structure of our teeth indicates that it is intended
that man should eat both animal and vegetable
food. But the relative amounts of each will vary
with different persons and with different circum-
stances. As a general rule, it is safe to eat what-
ever is commonly regarded as eatable, unless one
finds that it does not agree with him ; in that case,
he should let it alone, whatever it may be, or how-
ever much appetite may crave it. There is scarcely
any thing about which more nonsense has been
written than about food. A good general rule is,
"Eat good food, well-cooked, and enough of it."

Take your food regularly, — two or three times a
day, as best agrees with you, — eat when the time
comes, and at no other time; take nothing between
meals. Eat slowly, — many Americans seem to
pride themselves on the "brevity of the time in
which they can cram their meals into their
stomachs j — they "glory in their shame." No or-
dinary meal should occupy less than twenty min-
utes, — perhaps a half-hour is better. Social meals
are better than solitary. Pleasant, lively conversa-
tion should take the mind off the act of eating, —

The Teacher, 105

our meals should be something more than mere
feeding times. No violent exercise of mind or body
should immediately precede or follow a meal.

Sleep. — In respect to sleep, also, one man's
needs can not be made the measure for another.
Each should ascertain for himself how much sleep
he needs, — and then he should take it. Probably
very few persons need less than seven hours, — more
require eight or nine. There is a very foolish
notion that time spent in sleep is lost ; the student
often takes pride in the number of hours that he
saves from sleep. These are hours that he borrows
at a ruinous rate of interest. No time is ever lost
that is spent in needed sleep. Sleep repairs the
wasted energies of the body, especially of the
nervous system ; and, if we fail to get enough
sleep, bankruptcy of power is inevitable, sooner or
later. Brain-workers probably need more sleep
than manual laborers ; but they are not so likely to
feel their need. If one persist in robbing himself
of sleep, he is very likely to find, after a time, that
he can not sleep. Doubtless, this hastened the
death of Horace Greeley. It is quite probable that
Hugh Miller's insanity was due to the same cause.

Whether to sleep the first part of the night or
the last is a question each may settle for himself,
but let him take care not to cut the night at both
ends. As in eating, so in sleeping, regularity is
of the greatest importance. Nature accommodates
herself to our ways, but she will not be trifled with.
If we have a regular time to sleep, we shall gener-

1 06 Pedagogy.

ally feel sleepy when that time comes. Health
and bodily vigor are gifts that depend largely upon
ourselves. Some people think sickness and bodily
weakness criminal; and, doubtlesss, they are so in
many cases.

CHAPTER XI.
THE TEACHER. — Concluded.

What are Habits ? — ^The word habit comes from
the Latin habere^ to have ; it means any custom, or
practice, or act which by repetition becomes to us
Hke ** second nature." That which is habitual to
us we do without thought, or effort, or special in-
tention, — very much in the same way that we
breathe. Habits are the practices or customs that
we have ; or, if we think of their power over us,
it will not be far wrong to say that they have us.
It has been said that *'man is a bundle of habits;'*
at any rate, a man's true character in all respects is
indicated by his habits; nor would it be wrong to
say that his habits make him what he is.

Dr. Rosenkranz has well said that we are not
thoroughly educated in any thing till it has taken
on the form of habit; in other words, habit is the
form which all true education takes. This may be
illustrated in a great many ways : one is not thor-
oughly educated in the multiplication table if he
has to stop and think how many are eight times
seven; he is not educated to write while he must
think carefully how he ought to form his letters;
he is not educated in morality while he debates the

question whether he shall do right.

(107)

t oS Pedagogy.

The gfreat value of habit is that it enables us to
do easily what ought to be done, and to do it
rapidly and accurately, without any special thought
or effort.

Habits, if they are bad, are full of danger, as
they lead us to do many things which our judgment
or our conscience disapproves. The bad habit of
the drunkard carries him onward in his downward
course, in spite of his judgment, hi$ conscience, and
his feeble will.

Bodily Habits. — A good test for all habits per-
taining to the body is furnished by the question,
**Are they becoming?" By this test, all vulgar
habits, such as spitting, picking the nose, awkward-
ness of gait, etc., will be condemned.

Dress. — It is significant that dress is often called
habit; and the test just given for a habit of the
body applies here with much force. Dress is in-
tended to serve three purposes; viz., Decency ^ com-
fort, and adornment. Any dress that is not both
decent and comfortable is not becoming, no matter
how costly or stylish it may be. It is not neces-
sary that dress should be very expensive in order
to be becoming ; nor can teachers, generally, afford
very expensive dress. But the teacher's dress
should be neat, well-fitting, and neither too much
nor too little conformed to the prevalent mode. In
style of dress, the teacher may well follow the old
couplet :

" Be not the first by whom the new is tried,
Nor yet the last to cast the old aside.'*

The Teacher, 109

The material should be good, although it need
not be very costly; but, in general, very cheap
material is not really economical ; a coat that costs
thirty dollars, if it is worth it, is likely to be
cheaper in the end than one that is worth but
fifteen dollars, as it will wear much longer, and will
retain its good looks till it is worn out. One may
be considered well-dressed when his appearance is
pleasing to good taste ; and yet it is difficult, after
leaving him, to specify the kind or cut of the gar-
ments he wore.

Adornment is one proper purpose of dress;
hence, a reasonable amount of ornament is well,
especially in a lady's dress, if only it be modest,
genuine, and in good taste. Sham is despicable
anywhere, but nowhere more despicable than in
ornament, because nowhere else is there so little
excuse for it. Nor can we believe one is thor-
oughly sound morally, who will consent to wear sham
jewelry or other sham ornaments. This may be a
rash assertion; for, when we remember how many
thousands of dollars* worth of jewelry are made in
this country, of which you may have ' * your choice
for a dollar," — but will be cheated to the amount
of ninety cents, at least, if you take it, — we must
suppose that we are pronouncing judgment on a
great many people. But we will say deliberately
that we would not employ a person to teach chil-
dren if we knew that such a person wore sham
jewelry or other sham ornaments, knowing them to
be such.

I lo Pedagogy.

Position. — ^The teacher should be very careful
not to suffer himself to assume uncouth or awkward
positions, — such as tipping his chair on two legs,
thrusting his hands into his pockets, standing in a
stooping attitude or with his legs twisted, or sitting
on desks and tables, etc. Nor should he suffer his
pupils to form such habits. An erect position in
standing or sitting, with shoulders well thrown*
back, is not only more becoming, but it is more
healthful, as well.

Movement. — All movements in the school-room
should be rapid, quiet, and graceful. In the at-
tempt to move quietly, all awkward attitudes, such
as walking on tip-toe, walking with hands clasped
behind, etc., should be carefully shunned. If
teacher or pupil be not actually deformed, nothing
but care, effort, and perseverance is necessary to
form correct habits both of position and movement.
If the teacher find that his pupils have bad habits
in these respects, he should set about ' correcting
them ; of course, this is not the main purpose of
the school, but it is too important to be neglected.

Boys and girls in country schools are likely to be unreason-
ably sensitive on the points just mentioned. The writer well
remembers that, in such a school, which he attended when he
was a boy, the boys nearly rebelled 'because a new teacher
peremptorily forbade them to wear their hats in the school-
room at the noon intermission. They were not bad boys, nor
were they fools ; they were simply raw fellows who never had
been taught any better. Had the teacher been wise enough,
he might have accomplished his purpose without disturuing
any of their prejudices or awaking any opposition.

The Teacher, 1 1 1

Intellectual Habits. — We shall make no attempt
to consider all mental habits, but will only speak
of four that are of special significance to the
teacher.

Concentration. — No one ever accomplishes
much intellectually, unless he can command his
mental forces, and bring them to a focus on the
matter in hand. This the good teacher must be
able to do, even in the midst of distractions. But
it is, perhaps, quite as necessary that the teacher
have the power of rapidly withdrawing his mental
forces from the thing in hand, and quickly center-
ing them on something else; without this power,
he will often be the victim of absent-mindedness.
He alone who has control of his faculties in both
directions is prepared to use his powers to the best
advantage.

It is said of the great Napoleon, that he could sit down in
his tent, with the sound of the cannon in his ears, spread out
his jnaps, and plan the movements for the next day as coolly
as if he were in the most perfect solitude ; then, when his
work was done, he could fold his maps, stretch himself on
his camp bed, and be asleep in four minutes. The teacher
should aim at acquiring the same kind of power, so far as
he can do it.

Accuracy. — Mental work is worth little in any
case, — usually it is worth nothing, — if it is not
accurate. The teacher ought to be in love with
accuracy, and he ought to inspire that love in his
pupil. ** About right" is wrong; and wrong and
right are opposed to each other. Let the teacher

112 Pedagogy.*

train himself, and train his pupils, to exactness in
thought, exactness in speech or any other kind of
expression, and exactness of operation. Washing-
ton's accuracy in his work as a young surveyor is
often mentioned. Without it, would he ever have
become the exact, methodical, successful man that
he was?

Rapidity. — When the mind can work accurately
in any field, then it becomes of the highest import-
ance to cultivate the power of working rapidly.
This is a valuable habit, not only because more
work can be done in a given time, but the mind is
likely to do better work when it is aroused, — when
it works under pressure. ''Keep cool" may be
good advice sometimes; but sometimes it is better
to warm up, — to get all in a glow. It is well for
the teacher to train himself to work as rapidly as
possible in whatever private study he undertakes, as
well as in conducting the exercises of the school.
In hearing classes, he should not suffer himself to
waste time in calling roll, in finding his place in the
book, and in ** getting ready" in general. The
recitation should begin at once, under a "full head
of steam," and should be kept up in that way till
it closes. The greater the pressure, in respect to
time, brought to bear on the class, the better, so
long as it does not result in confusion. Of course,
such vigorous work should be followed by seasons
of sufficient rest.

Thoroughness. — ^The word thorough is the same as
the word through. To be thorough in a thing.

The Teacher. 113

then, is to go through it completely, encountering
and mastering every difficulty. Thoroughness never
is accomplished by dabbling simply with the surface
of things ; it must go deep down, and become mas-
ter of principles. It is not necessary to know all
that can be known about a subject in order to be
thorough in it; but it is necessary to know the
most important things about it,' to know them in
an accurate and orderly manner, and to know com-
pletely all that we pretend to know.

Moral Habits. — Here, again, we shall make no
attempt to exhaust the list, but will call attention
to four habits that are of special significance to the
teacher.

Truthfulness. — There can be no right moral
character unless it have truthfulness for its basis;
hence, the propriety of placing this as the first of
moral habits. We hope that there are few teachers
who are in the habit of lying openly and intention-
ally, but something more than this is necessary to
a character that is really truthful. There are many
ways of being untruthful besides lying outright.
The teacher who makes hasty threats or rash prom-
ises, and then fails to keep them, is untruthful. So
is he who pretends to a great love for h^s pupils
which he does not feel; or he who pretends to
know all about a subject of which he is ignorant.

And what shall we say of the teacher who has
set exercises prepared to display when visitors hap-
pen in? Or of the one who *' fixes up** his exer-
cises for examination? Such a man may read all
Ped.— 10.

114 Pedagogy,

the moral lessons on lying to his school, including
the story of Ananias and Sapphira; but what does
he teach them about the subject, except that it is a
good thing to lie when any thing is likely to be
gained by it? And what shall we say of the pupil
who borrows work of his neighbor and palms it off
as his own? Or who cheats in his lessons in other
ways? And what can the teacher, guilty of dis-
honest practices, do with a pupil whom he catches
at these tricks? Such tricks of teacher and pupils
have in them the essence of thievery as well as
falsehood, for they are attempts to get something
for nothing by dishonest means.

When the true sense of "honor" prevails in our schools,
instead of the miserable false code now so common, the pupils
will feel it to be their duty, quite as much as their teacher's,
to expose all such wretched practices, and to assist in bringing
the offender to justice. What would be the moral status of
any community where every man should feel bound "in
honor" to shield a criminal from the pursuit of the civil offi-
cers, instead of assisting them to bring him to justice?

Kindness. — It is the teacher's duty to form the
habit of kindness in thought, in look, and in
speech. This is a moral habit when it is formed
and persisted in because it is right; for,

Morality is a due regard for the right and a shun-
ning of the wrong.

Cheerfulness. — Much the same thing may be
said about the habit of cheerfulness; it is a moral
habit when it is followed because it is right. To

The Teacher. i \ 5

be kind and cheerful when one is in glowing health
and all goes well, simply because one feels like it,
is right no doubt ; but there is no morality in that
any more than there is in the cat's lapping milk.
But for one to force himself to be kind and cheer-
ful habitually, when circumstances and his feelings
prompt otherwise, — to do this because it is right, —
is moral action of a high quality.

Justice. — A careful habit of justice is essential to
the teacher's success. The pupils, although ill-
dressed — and even ill-behaved — have rights that no
teacher can justly ignore. And they know it, too ;
they are quick to feel an injustice, and the memory
of it will remain for years. It is not easy for the
teacher to do exact justice by his pupils ; he must
be sheriff, lawyer, jury, judge, and executioner all
in one, and that, too, in a press of other matters.
It requires a right purpose, an unbiased judgment,
a clear head, and much deliberation. But he
should undertake nothing in the way of trying and
punishing offenses unless he is willing to take the
time and the pains to become acquainted with all
the facts, to weigh them carefully, and to do exact
justice to the full extent of his ability. It is a
fortunate thing for a teacher when his pupils come
to feel that, whatever may happen, they are sure to
get justice at his hands. True justice towards
pupils will have a sacred regard for their feelings,
and will not subject them to harsh, undeserved
sarcasm and ridicule any sooner than to any other
form of ill-treatment.

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CHAPTER XII.

THE SCHOOL.

The House. — Usually, the teacher has nothing
to say about the situation of the school-house.
But he should have intelligent views on this sub-
ject, as well as on all others connected with his
business. Other things being equal, of course the
best place to put the school-house is in the center
of the district; but if the center is in marshy
ground, or is otherwise unpleasant or unhealthy, or
if it is not so accessible as some other place, then
the school-house should be placed elsewhere. In a
city, the school should not be situated on a noisy
or dusty street, nor in the immediate vicinity of
great manufactories or railroad depots, nor near
saloons and other disreputable places.

Surroundings. — In the country, at least, the
school grounds should be liberal in extent. A half
acre is little enough; an acre is better. Probably
the best shape for the ground is that of a rectangle
about twice as long as it is wide. The ground
should be surrounded by a substantial fence, to
protect it from stray animals, and to determine the
pupils' bounds. The house should be set well back
from the street; the ground in front should be de-

1 1 8 Pedagogy.

voted to ornament, and the ground in the rear
should be divided into two parts by a high and
close fence extending from the house to the bound-
ary of the lot. These divisions may be used as
play-grounds for the boys and girls respectively. A
few trees for shade should be planted around the
play-ground, but there should not be so many as to
interfere with free sports.

The ground in front of the house should not be
used as a play-ground, but should be kept in grass,
and well adorned with trees, flower-beds, etc. An
intelligent and skillful teacher can do much towards
ornamenting and caring for this front yard. He
can get assistance from the pupils in planting trees,
flowers, etc., thus teaching them something about
plant-life, awakening in them a pride in their sur-
roundings, and so cultivating their aesthetic nature, —
a part of education that seldom receives the atten-
tion it deserves. The yards should be well sup-
plied with good plank or brick walks; brick are
perhaps cheaper, but plank walks dry sooner and
are not so troublesome in icy times.

The Structure. — In building a school-house, it
costs but little more to have some regard to due
proportion and modest ornament than it does to
build a structure that looks like a barn or a stable.
The child will remember his old school-house as
long as he lives. Is it worth while that the re-
membrance should be that of a building that is
cheerful and tasteful? In building the school-
house, care should be taken that the light shall not

The School, 119

enter in front of the pupils, but from the sides of
the room, and perhaps from the rear. There
should be enough windows to give sufficient light;
but, in some cases, there are more than are
needed, giving too great a glare of light in bright
summer days, and admitting too much cold air in
the winter. It is well to have the windows pro-
tected by strong board-shutters, that may be closed
at night and in vacation. In this way, the house
may be protected from tramps and other intruders.

It would be well if all our school-houses were
built with some due provision for ventilation ; it is
not difficult, if care be taken when the house is
building. Let the walls, floors, and windows be
made as tight as possible, and then provide for
bringing fresh air into the house. Warm the air
thoroughly by passing it over a properly con-
structed heater, and then pass it into the school-
room. But, in order to make the air circulate, it is
just as necessary that provision be made for the
foul air to pass out, as for the pure air to get in.
The place of escape should be made near the bottom
of the room, and the foul air should pass off into the
chimney, or into a separate flue provided for the
purpose.

Furniture. — Usually the desks, etc., are pur-
chased without consulting the teacher; but he
ought to be able to show the people that it is much
better to supply convenient, well-made, and well-
finished desks, instead of the coarse desks that a
common carpenter can make of ordinary lumber.

1 20 Pedagogy.

The cost is but little greater, for those who manu-
facture school furniture as a business select their
lumber, dry it thoroughly, and do most of the work
by machinery. Hence, they can make it durable,
tasteful, and at a moderate cost. Such furniture in
itself teaches the pupils useful lessons; besides, it
does not offer the same temptations to rude boys
that rough, uncouth furniture does. Few boys will
try their jack-knives on well-made, hemdsomely
finished desks.

Apparatus. — As a part of the furniture, we
would class books for reference, globes, maps, and
other apparatus. It often happens that it depends
almost wholly on the teacher how much of such
furnishings there shall be, and of what kind. If
there is a lack in this respect, a teacher who is
really in earnest will attend to the matter. Gener-
ally, he may get what he needs by making proper
representations to the school authorities. If he can
not do it in this way, he or his pupils may raise
money by circulating a subscription paper ; or some
entertainment may be given by the school, to which
a small fee may be charged. A very acceptable
entertainment may be prepared with but little, if
any, interruption of the regular school work. In
fact, the exercises may consist largely of readings,
compositions, and other exercises which belong to
the regular work. It is better that the teacher
should not contribute very freely of his own money
for these objects; remember that people prize the
things they pay for.

The School, 121

Condition of the House. — ^The teacher should
see that the house and all the premises are in good
condition when he takes charge of them. If re-
pairs are needed, he should stipulate with his direc-
tors to have them made, when he makes his bargain
with them; it may be well to put this stipulation
into the written contract, — for there ought always
to be a written contract. He should see, also, that
the house is clean when he takes it, and then he
should see that it is kept so. To this end, scrapers
emd mats should be provided, and should be used.
As often as may be necessary, the house should be
cleansed. The old-fashioned way of having teacher
and pupils gather on Saturday and clean the house
is not a bad one. It furnishes a good deal of fun,
and at the same time gives the pupils a sense of
responsibility in the nriatter.

If the house is clean, well warmed, and well ven
tilated, it is likely to be comfortable ; but the win-
dows should be supplied with some kind of shades
to regulate the amount of light. If there are no
interior blinds, very good shades can be made of
cloth or of stout paper. The room should be made
cheerful by pictures, mottoes, busts, and other or-
naments, — even simple wreaths of leaves are better
than nothing. If the teacher own articles that will
ornament the room, he may use them for this pur- ^
pose for a time. But it is better that he should
get the pupils to help him obtain them, in some
way, so that the school may own them. The sense
of ownership on the part of the pupils assists in

Ped.— 11.

122 Pedagogy.

the education which they will get from these
things, whose influence is sure to be a lasting one.

Organization. — What is it to organize any
thing? In the Greek language is the word ergon^ —
spelled with Roman letters — which signifies a work.
The root letters of this word are rg or rgn^ and
these letters express the original idea. The same
letters are found in the words organ, urge, energy,
thaumaturgy, and many others, — all these words
express in some form the idea of work. To or-
ganize any thing is to put it in a condition to do
some specific work. Why is this word appropri-
ately applied to the musical instrument so called
rather than to a violin or a cornet? Why is it
proper to call the hand or the eye an organ of the
body ?

What may be organized? Any thing which by
organization is prepared to perform a work.
Hence, a legislative body, a town-meeting, any
public assembly, an army, or a school, needs to be
organized before it can enter upon its proper work.
To organize includes arrangement, but it means
something more ; for example, the books of a
library may be arranged, but a library can not be
organized.

To organize a school is so to adjust its parts and
forces that it may do the proper mork of a school.

It should not be forgotten that the work of a
school is two-fold ; viz. , the acquisition of knowl-
edge and the developing and disciplining of powers.

The School. 12^

First Day's Work. — An old proverb says,
'*Well begun is half done." There is a great deal
of truth in this, especially in a school. On the
first day, the pupils of a school are more than usu-
ally wide-awake and observant. The teacher may
fancy that he is taking their measure; but he may
be sure that they are taking his, quite as certainly
and quite as accurately. The impression from this
day will remain through the term. If that impres-
sion is a good one, it is not certain that the term's
work will succeed ; but, in that case, if the teacher
fail, he will fail in spite of a decided advantage.
On the other hand, if the first day's work is poor,
future success will be uphill work.

Previous Knowledge. — It is important that the
teacher should go to his first day's work furnished
with all the knowledge he can possibly have con-
cerning the house, the neighborhood, the pupils
and their previous progress. He may gain this
knowledge by visiting the district, inspecting the
school-house, conversing with the former teacher,
the directors, and others, and by examining the
records of the pupils' progress and standing, if any
have been kept. It ought to be required of every
teacher that he should keep, and leave in perma-
nent form, such records of his school as would give
his successor fairly complete information concerning
all the pupils.

In seeking knowledge concerning his future school, the
teacher should not allow himself to be biased by neighbor-
hood quarrels and jealousies; nor should he impress his

t ±4 Pedagogy.

patrons with the notion that he is over-anxious to obtain their
views on schools and education. He ought not to lead them
to think that he is as pliable as the good-natured teacher who
was willing to teach that the earth is round or flat, just as his
patrons should choose.

Definite Plans. — It is of great importance that
the teacher enter the school-house, on the first
morning, with a complete and definite plan of the
work he proposes to do that day, and of the order
in which the several steps are to be taken. Few
things will so deeply impress his pupils with the
idea that he is a master of his business.

Promptness. — ^The teacher should be on time
every day; but it is especially important that he
should be very prompt on the first day. If he
intends to be at the house, fifteen minutes before
school-time on other days, let him be there half an
hour before time on this morning. The pupils are
usually present early on the first day, and the
mere presence of the teacher may prevent the or-
ganization of mischievous schemes; besides^ the
furniture will need to be put in order, etc. He
should greet his pupils cordially, but not show him-
self too anxious to become familiar. He should
have his eyes wide open without seeming to be
specially observant. If he detect some pupil whose
look or manner seems to forebode trouble, it may
be well to ask such a pupil pleasantly to assist in
some of the work of preparation.

Signals. — At the exact moment, the signal for
order should be given. If the house is furnished

The School. 125

with a large bell, a warning signal may be given
about ten minutes before the time to begin, to be
followed by another slighter signal at the exact
time to begin. It is not well to give signals by
pounding on the house with a ruler, nor in other
uncouth ways; this is not putting things to their
appropriate use. Bells have been used as signals
for ages, — this is their chief purpose.

The slightest signal is the best, provided it is suffi-
cient, A single, sharp tap of the bell means more
than a prolonged ringing, — it says, **Come now;"
but the long ringing says, **Come, after awhile."

A visitor once passed an hour in one of those schools that
seem to move like clock-work without any effort on the part
of anybody ; — no school ever really moves in that way, how-
ever. The visitor was especially impressed with the prompt
and exact manner in which the classes arose and passed to
recitation, — ^there seemed to be no signal. After the session,
she asked a little girl belonging to one of the classes how the
pupils knew when to rise and pass. "Why,** said she, "did
you not see the master move his thumb?"

Assigning Work. — As soon as the school is in
order, work should begin. Two minutes or less
is time enough for the teacher's inaugural, — a few
words of greeting, a hope for diligence, good con-
duct, and success, heartily spoken, — this is enough.
If devotional exercises are to be had on other
mornings in the term, they should begin now. As
soon as they are over, some work, carefully ar-
ranged beforehand, should be given immediately to
each pupil, except perhaps the very youngest.

126 Pedagogy.

Examples may be put on the board for those who
have been through the ** ground rules" of arithme-
tic, another set for those more advanced, a spelling
lesson for the younger ones, some exact task for
the classes in geography, etc.; — let each pupil feel
that a responsibility is put upon him. It makes
little difference what the work is, only it must be
usefuly reasonable^ and definite. Fix an exact time
at which the results will be called for, and do not
neglect it when the time comes.

Taking Names. — As soon as all are at work, the
teacher may proceed to take the names ; this should
be done with the least demonstration possible. If
any pupils are working at the board, let them write
their names beside their work; give the older
pupils slips of paper on which to write their names ;
pass to the others, and take their names in a whis-
per or in a low tone of voice. Be sure to spell all
the names correctly. It is very essential that the
teacher learn to put the names and their owners
together as soon as possible. A pupil is impressed
very differently when his teacher calls him promptly
by name, from what he will be if the teacher desig-
nates him as the boy on the back seat, the boy
with a red necktie, etc. He feels that, in the
teacher's mind, he has passed out of the limbo in-
dicated by **boy*' into the field of true personality.
Besides, as the pupils are so familiar with their own
names, they feel that it is an indication of weak-
ness for a grown man, — a teacher, — to be ignorant
of what is so easy to them.

The School. 127

Learning Names, — To assist in learning the
names, it will be well for the teacher to be supplied
with a plan or map of the school-room; then, as
soon as he ascertains a pupil's name, let him write
it in the proper place on his plan ; of course, the
pupils will have been informed that they are to
retain their present seats until they are changed by
the teacher's order or permission. Having the plan
before him, with all the names in their proper
places, a careful glance from time to time at the
name and face which belong together will soon as-
sociate them. He is a weak teacher in this respect
who can not learn to call each pupil, in a school of
forty, promptly by name at the close of the third
half-day.

Temporary Classification. — It is not wise to
attempt to classify completely at first. Adopt the
classes of the previous term, put new pupils where
they seem to belong, taking care not to class them
too high ; let the pupils distinctly understand that
this is all for the present, and that any changes will
be made as soon as you think best to make them.
Having thus arranged the classes, assign each a reg-
ular lesson. In the afternoon of the first day, put
a temporary programme on the board; and, by the
second day, the school should be working in regu
lar order.

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CHAPTER XIII.
THE SCHOOL. — Concltided,

Classifying. — Let us now consider more fully
the question of classifying a school. There are
those who consider classification as an unmixed
evil, and hold that, in the best schools, there will
be no classes. They say that all instruction should
be directed to the individual needs of the pupils.
Perhaps it would be a sufficient answer to such a
theory, to say that it is wholly impracticable in our
public schools ; the number that must be taught by
a single teacher is so great that the pupils must be
put in classes in order that the work may be done
at all. But this is not all that can be said; there
are other advantages besides a saving of timey as we
shall hope to show. But, in order to understand
more fully the saving of time, let us consider the
meaning of three words : telly teachy and train.

Tell, Teach, and Train have a similarity in
sound ; they resemble one another in meaning, also.
But it is very important that they be not used as
synonymous. Let us examine their different mean-
ings. To tell a thing is simply to relate it, to say
over words that are fitted to convey a certain mean-
ing, without any special care as to whether the

tl29)

130 Pedagogy.

hearer really gets that meaning from them or not.
To teach a thing, we must not only put it before
the learner, but we must see to it that every step
is thoroughly understood; this includes telling, and
something more. Teaching involves the labor of
two parties. Training includes all that teaching
does ; besides, it requires of the one who is trained
that he put into practice that which he: has been
told and taught. And no work of education is of
much value that does not take the form of training ;
for all education worth the name results in habit,
and habit is formed by training.

To illustrate, suppose a youth enters the shop of
a blacksmith in order to learn the art of shoeing
horses. Perhaps his master might tell him all
about the making and setting of a horse-shoe in
half an hour; but he would not be taught how to
shoe a horse in that way. Suppose, instead, the
master should tell him only a small part of the
matter, and then require the apprentice to recite
the next day what he had been told, and to
answer test questions to show that he fully compre-
hended it all. If this were continued a few days,
the youth might acquire all the knowledge necessary
to shoe a horse ; and, if he were a fluent talker, he
might impart this knowledge more clearly and more
glibly than his master. But can he shoe a horse?
Of course not; no one thinks of mastering a trade
in this way.-

On the contrary, when a boy enters the shop, his
master will tell him how to do some simple part of

The School. 131

the work, and then set him to doing it. When he
can do this part well, he is put to doing another
part. In this way, by a little telling and teaching,
followed by much practice, the master trains him
until he can make and set a horse-shoe as easily as
he can walk. It has become a habit.

In a similar way, all the effective work of the
school-room takes the form of training; or, at
least, leads to it. The pupil must be shown how
the letters are combined into the correct spelling of
words, and then he must write them until the
letters flow from his pen almost without thought.
His processes in arithmetic, if he really master the
subject, become almost automatic. Training in the
use of good English, both spoken and written,
should be kept up until a slip will give him a shock,
as something unnatural. Similar things may be
said about every study of the school; when they
are properly managed, they all involve more or less
of telling, teaching, and training on the part of the
teacher. But training is the most important of the
th^ee, — it should be the great business of the
school.

Nor is this fact any less important in a moral education
than in an intellectual one. Very significant are the words
of the wise man : " Train up a child in the way he should go ;
and when he is old, he will not depart from it." No doubt
many a disconsolate parent, as he weeps over a wayward
child who has *' set at naught all his counsels and would none
of his reproofs,'* is inclined to doubt the truth of Solomon's
language. But, probably, if he would think the matter over
carefully, he would find that he has only given his son "coun-

132 Pedagogy,

^^rm -^^^ ■— ^m I - - - - — -■_ ■!■ ■ 11

sels," teachings as to the right way, but has never "trained
him up** in the right way at all.

Saves Time. — In all the processes of telling,
teaching, and training, classification saves time, but
not in the same proportion. In telling, the gain is
directly proportioned to the size of the class ; one
can tell a thing to as many as can hear him, in the
same time it would take to tell it to one. If he is
careful to teach what he tells, the saving is not so
great, but it is still considerable. In training, per-
haps the saving is still less ; nevertheless, one can
train twenty in a class in much less time than it
would take to train them singly.

Enthusiasm from Numbers. — Another advantage
of classes is that numbers awaken enthusiasm.
Politicians understand this well ; hence their
anxiety to have a large attendance at their
** rallies." Nor can observant teachers have failed
to notice the difference in this respect between
classes of reasonable size and very small classes or
individual students.

Mutual Help. — ^The help that students derive
from each other is no small gain. If there is the
earnestness and freedom of thought and expression
that ought to prevail in a class, each contributes
something to the common stock, and not seldom
a pupil will suggest something that would have
escaped the notice of the teacher. Besides, a good
thing said by one of the class is very likely to im-
press itself on the other members more than it would
if the same thing had been said by the teacher.

The School, 133

Of course, there is a kind of mutual help that is
very hurtful; when a few of the class do all the
work, all the thinking, and the others merely bor-
row from them, an evil exists for which the wise
teacher will strenuously exert himself to find a
remedy.

Habit of Working Together. — No man in this
world can do very great things alone, — all great
enterprises are carried forward by many combining
and working together. But when men work to-
gether, they are obliged to regard one another's
wants and peculiarities, to adapt themselves to each
other, to give up some things that they might re-
tain if they were working alone. Since this is the
case, it would seem that class-work will educate
young persons in a very important matter which
solitary work does not touch; hence, in this re-
spect, it is claimed that class-work is more practical
than solitary work.

The only apparent drawback to class-work is the
danger that individual peculiarities and needs will
be neglected, and this may be very serious. But
the wise teacher, aware that such a danger exists,
will be very careful to reduce the harm coming
from it to a minimum.

Size of Classes. — Whatever advantages may be
claimed for any classification would seem to weigh
in favor of large classes ; the limit will be reached
with the number whom the teacher can make hear
him. But the disadvantage will weigh in favor of
small classes, and the limit is one person. The

134 Pedagogy,

large class saves more time, develops more enthu-
siasm, etc., while the small class gives more oppor-
tunity to regard individual needs and peculiarities.
It is believed that for older pupils thirty in a class
are quite enough ; twenty is a better number ; ten
are too few. For little children, fifteen make a
large class; ten are about right; five are too few.

Bases of Classification. — If a teacher should
put his blue-eyed children in one class, and the
black eyes in another ; or if he should put all of a
certain height or weight together, every one would
see the absurdity of the performance. It is scarcely
less absurd to put a boy into a certain class because
of his age, or family, or the wealth or position of
his father, than to put him there because of the
color of his eyes. Perhaps, however, it is proper
to put a backward pupil who is somewhat mature
into a class a little higher than his acquirements
would indicate, because it is fair to suppose that he
may work somewhat harder than the pupils of the
same standing who are less mature.

In many country schools, the classes are greatly
multiplied because of diversity of text-books; this
is a cause of loud and bitter complaint on the part
of many teachers. Probably it is better that the
text-books should be uniform ; but it is very foolish
to put pupils who are of the same grade, or nearly
the same, into different classes merely because their
books are not alike. There is no possible excuse
for this in any but a class in reading. Can not a
class get a lesson on compound fractions from two

The School. 135

or three different authors ? Can they not manage a
lesson on the geography of Ohio, using different
text-books? In fact, a skillful teacher can turn this
diversity to advantage.

True Bases. — The true bases of classification are
two in number; viz., present acquirements and
general ability. Of these two, the latter is of more
importance, although the former is more easily
ascertained; and very often it seems to be the only
thing regarded. General ability includes natural
aptness, maturity of mind, good habits of study,
health, etc., — a simple examination does not readily
disclose all these elements. •

Mode of Classification. — In order to classify a
new school, the teacher must do one of two things;
viz., adopt a rough and temporary classification at
first, and then correct it as fast as possible, or keep
his whole school in a state of chaos till he can
ascertain the correct place of every pupil. We
recommended the former course in the last chapter.
As soon as the temporary classification is adopted,
and the school set to work, the teacher should
begin to study carefully to see what pupils are in
the right classes, and what ones ought to be
changed. To this end, every recitation is an ex-
amination. Probably, most will be found to be in
the proper classes; then, for a few lessons, let at-
tention be given almost exclusively to those whose
standing is doubtful, and let them be changed as
fast as the proper changes can be determined. It
is important that all should be in their permanent

136 Pedagogy.

places as soon as possible, in order that they may
enter on the real work of the term, and that all
may be supplied with the proper text-books. If
there are no more than forty pupils in the school,
a sharp and earnest teacher ought to have all in
their places by the end of the fifth day, or the
seventh at farthest.

The Programme. — No work anywhere is likely
to be well done if it is not carefully planned, — well
mapped out. Certainly, a good programme is one
of the prime necessities of a good school. Of
course, the teacher may have such a programme in
his own mind ; this is well as far as it goes, but it
is better for him and for the school to have it care-
fully written out and posted in some conspicuous
place, where all can see it. If the blackboard is
scanty, the programme may be written neatly on
strong manilla paper. In a school of small chil-
dren, the programme should show the exact time
for studying each subject, as well as the time to
recite it.

Advantages. — ^There are two decided advantages
in having a well-prepared programme, and there
seems to be no objection to it. A programme is a
saving of time to teacher and pupils. Without it
the teacher will have to stop and consider what to
do next; he will be called upon also to answer
many questions as to the time when certain classes
will recite, etc. The pupils will waste time in ask-
ing such questions, or in querying what they had
better do next.

The School. 137

The programme lays a responsibility on teacher
and pupil. No teacher should ever ask if a class is
ready with the lesson; let them feel that when
the time comes they are responsible for the lesson.
A sense of responsibiUty is the beginning of every
movement towards a higher plane. The programme
is a very important educational force. By it the
pupil forms the habit of performing his duties regu-
larly, promptly, and according to a plan. Such a
habit is a grand preparation for the emergencies of
life, — it is worth more than the acquisition of a
science or a language.

Construction of the Programme. — A few general
hints on making a programme may be given; but
full instructions are impossible unless one could
know all the circumstances and conditions. The
time should be wisely distributed, according to the
number of classes, their size, the age and advance-
ment of the pupils, the nature of the study, etc.
Young pupils should have short lessons, and have
them often; ten minutes is long enough for the
little children. For older pupils and more difficult
subjects, more time should be allowed; but little
can be done with an advanced class in Grammar or
Arithmetic in less than half an hour. It is better
for such classes to recite on alternate days than to
recite every day, if they can not have a time of
reasonable length otherwise.

The first recitation in each half-day should be one
from the older pupils, prepared out of school-
hours, or one from the little children who make no

Ped.— 12.

138 Pedagogy.

preparation. Younger pupils should have their les-
sons so arranged as to allow a time to study each
lesson just before reciting it. • No study like writing
or drawing should immediately follow a play-time.
A few minutes for movements, answering questions,
etc., should be allowed at regular hours. It is
often well to arrange the lessons so as to dismiss
the younger children an hour earlier than the rest ;
it is a relief to the children, to the teacher, and to
the older pupils as well.

How Closely Follow the Programme? — ^There
is little danger of following the programme too
closely; the danger is all on the other side. Each
exercise should begin and end at the exact time
noted. If the teacher is likely to become so inter-
ested in his work as to overrun his time, he should
appoint some pupil to give the signal; and when
the signal is given, he ought to obey it promptly.
A programme-clock will prevent all danger, if it is
properly used. If the teacher should chance to
finish his lesson before the time allotted expires, he
may give the class something extra in the way of
information ; if, however, he has nothing that is
worth giving, he should dismiss the class.

Grading. — There is no essential difference be-
tween graded schools and well classified schools;
the different grades are but classes put into thp
hands of different teachers. A system of graded
schools should always have an able and well quali-
fied superintendent at its head. Of course, such a
person ought to command a good salary, but he

The School, ' 139

can use teachers of less experience under his direc-
tion and supervision ; and, in that way, better work
may be done, and at less cost than would be neces-
sary if only those teachers were employed who could
be trusted to do their work without supervision. No
one ought to attempt the supervision of a system
of graded schools without giving the subject very
careful thought and study. The annual reports of
the schools in cities like St. Louis, Boston, Cincin-
nati, and Chicago will possess much interest for a
superintendent.

The great danger in graded schools is that the
grades will be made too inflexible, and thus the
individual will be sacrificed to the system. A wise
superintendent will devise ways to prevent this, and
to allow each student to progress as fast as he is
able, and no faster.

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CHAPTER XIV.

MANAGEMENT.

It is hardly proper to discuss the relative value
of good management in schools, as compared with
instruction and training. In a certain sense the
management is subsidiary, of course; but it is cer-
tain that no school can be well instructed if it is
not well managed. As for the training, a large and
very valuable part of it results directly from good
management. The necessity of thoughtful attention
to the matter of management becomes apparent
when we remember how many teachers well quali-
fied to instruct fail because they are not able to
manage. Probably the larger part of the failures
are due to this cause.

Voice. — A good, well-managed voice on the part
of the teacher is one of the most effective aids in
managing a school. Such a voice is not loud; but
it is clear, distinct, pitched on a low key, and gen-
erally it speaks with the falling inflection. When
such a voice speaks, there is always a quality in it
that indicates deliberate thought, purpose, and de-
termination ; in short, such a voice says that a man
or a woman stands behind it. Not all people are
equally endowed with good voices; but any real

(141)

1 42 Pedagogy.

man or woman whose vocal organs are not seriously
defective may acquire a good voice.

Eye. — ^The teacher's eye may be another most
effective instrument of management. A teacher
who knows how may answer a question, give a
command, grant a request, or quell a rising dis-
turbance by a glance of the eye. An eye that can
do this is wakeful, alert, expressive, and resolute, —
like the effective voice, it must be recognized as
having an effective personality behind it. If a
teacher who can use his eye in this way suspects
that mischief is going on in a distant part of the
room, he does not rush to the scene of the disturb-
ance, nor shout to the offender; but, keeping his
eye steadily fixed in that quarter, he waits till he
can catch the offender's eye, and then settles the
whole trouble by a look. Very likely, no other
pupil knows any thing of what is going on, and the
quiet of the school is not disturbed in the least.

Government. — A large part of school manage-
ment consists in government, but by no means all
of it.

Government is the exercise of authority.

It is causing the will of the governed party to
yield to the will of the governor. It must be
clearly seen that one does not govern by hiring,
coaxing, wheedling, or exhorting. Some of these
things may be very proper to do at times; but let
no one deceive himself with the notion that he is
governing when he does them.

Management 1 43

Reason for It. — But here the question of the
ground of government must be met. What right
has one in authority to ask, — to compel, if need
be — other wills to yield to his? A great many
partial answers may be given, which are correct as
far as they go: but they may all be included in
this:

One in authority has a right to govern for the good
of the governed only.

No human government, — in school, family,
church, or state, — has any right to exist for a
moment upon any other ground. Is it not proba-
ble, also, that this is the reason for Divine
government? Men have not always looked at gov-
ernment in this way, as we have abundant proof
from history; nor do all who rule to-day observe
the principle, even if they recognize it in theory.

Government, everywhere and always, should rest on clear
intelligence, and not on the feeling of the one who adminis-
ters it. The fickle nature of a government by feeling is often
illustrated by the popular clamor for the death of a criminal
when some crime of great atrocity has shocked a community,
followed by the same persons, perhaps, signing a petition for
the pardon of the criminal when he has been legally con-
victed of the very crime that so moved them before,— -but
after their feelings have had time to change. In this case, feel-
ing, in both its exhibitions, strives to effect wrong purposes.

Personal Feeling. — A just recognition of these
principles will not allow personal feeling of any
kind to control in matters of government. The

1 44 Pedagogy,

teacher should ask, and honestly answer, a single
question in respect to any exercise of his authority
that he proposes; that question is. Will this be for
the good of my pupils ? This will apply to all re-
quirements, rules, regulations, refusals, permissions,
reproofs, and even punishments; not. Will this
thing give me ease, or power, or popularity, but,
Will it benefit my pupils, one or all?

To be sure, good government in school will bene-
fit the teacher in many ways, but his benefit is no
just ground for any act of authority. The world is *
so constituted that well doing usually benefits more
than one party; like mercy, "it is twice bless'd."
Many of the richest blessings of life and experience
come to us incidentally, and will come in no other
way. Seek happiness directly, and you will miss
it; go forward in the way of duty, and it will seek
you.

If the teacher manages and governs solely for the
good of his pupils, they will be sure to discover
the fact, although he may say nothing of his
motives in the case, — as the wise teacher probably
will not. When the teacher rules in this way, and
his pupils come to know and feel the fact, the an-
tagonism that sometimes exists between teacher
and pupils, as between two hostile parties, is no
longer possible to any intelligent, right meaning
pupil. He will feel that there is the same single
aim proper for teacher and pupils; viz., the best
good of the pupils. When antagonism between
teacher and pupils disappears, there is harmony in

Management, 1 45

place of discord, peace instead of war, and efficiency
in place of wasted effort.

Punishment. — ^The principle we have been con-
sidering has a very important relation to the subject
of punishment. Punishment, or the possibility of
punishment, is essential to the very idea of govern-
ment. A requirement that implies no penalty may
be a request or an exhortation ; it is not a law.
There can be no law without some penalty to follow
its infraction. A government that will never hurt
is a government in name only, not in reality.

** Punishment is pain inflicted on an offendety by
competent authorityy either to reform him or to deter
others y' or for both purposes,'^

That which causes no pain or loss can not be
punishment, — nor is it possible to punish any one
but an offender, however much pain we may cause
him to feel. Nor can any one not in authority
punish, however much deserved pain he may visit
on an offender. Nor does proper authority punish
when it inflicts deserved pain on an offender, unless
it be done with the right purpose. If it were
necessary, all these essentials to the true idea of
punishment might be fully illustrated from school-
life. In the state, there is another proper purpose
of punishment ; viz. , the vindication of justice ;
but in school, it is enough to regard the two we
have mentioned, and generally we should lose sight
of neither of these.

Ped.— 13.

1 46 Pedagogy.

Improper. — Often we find forms of so-called pun-
ishment in school that are base, cruel, and wholly
unworthy the name. Among such, are all degrad-
ing or brutal punishments, — such as shutting in the
dark, pulling hair, pinching the cheeks, indiscrim-
inate hitting and switching, and all forms of torture,
some of which, like ** holding a nail in the floor,"
were often resorted to in the old-time school. In
this list should be put all angry and vengeful pun-
ishments, and all unreasonable sarcasm and ridicule.
None of these abominations, and others that might
be mentioned, are worthy of a decent teacher.
Among proper punishments we may name loss of
rank, forfeiture of privileges, imposition of tasks,
reprimand, private and public, etc. ; but any punish-
ment, the most proper in form, becomes improper
if administered in a wrong spirit by the teacher.

Some writers, notably Herbert Spencer, declare that all
punishment should in some way be related to the offense in
kind or in sequence ; for instance, if one comes late to school,
punish him by making him stay after school as many minutes
as he was tardy. No doubt it is well to observe such adapta-
tion when it can well be done ; but, in many cases, it seems
hardly possible.

Corporal Punishment. — When the pain inflicted
by punishment falls upon the body, that punish-
ment is corporal punishment, no matter what
specific form it takes. Is such punishment proper?
Why not? There is no government without law, —
there is no law without possible punishment; there

Management, 1 47

is no punishment without pain of some kind, —
hence, there is no possibility of government with-
out a possibility of some pain to follow it. Can
there be any pain but pain of body or pain of
mind? Why is the body so peculiarly sacred that
it must feel no pain in punishment? It is not
strange that people are sensitive respecting corporal
punishment, for it has been so terribly abused ; but
we are wholly unable to see why it is not a per-
fectly proper mode of punishment, in the school or
in the family, when it is deserved, when it is given
in a proper measure and in a proper way. Dr.
Rosenkranz says : * * The view which sees in the rod
the panacea for all the teacher's embarrassments, is
censurable; but equally undesirable is the false sen-
timentality which assumes that the dignity of hu-
manity is affected by a blow given to a child.*'

In reality, it will be found that any valid argu-
ments against corporal punishment are valid against
all punishment. To punish is to inflict pain, — ^an
operation from which every right-feeling person
shrinks, — but an operation which should never be
abolished until the offenses cease which make pun-
ishment proper. Often, in schools where corporal
punishment is not allowed, something worse is re-
sorted to. Proper punishment is not cruelty, even
though it make the body sting, — taking far-reaching
consequences into account, it may be the bitterest
cruelty to withhold it. Nor should corporal pun-
ishment be the last form of punishment. Expul-
sion may properly come later. If a rude, turbulent

1 48 Pedagogy,

boy can be kept in school and judiciously whipped
into decent behavior, will any one say that it is not
better for him, and for all concerned, than it would
be to turn him into the street?

Cautions, — But corporal punishment should never
be given without deliberation and careful thought,
followed by a clear conviction that it is the best
form of punishment for the special case in hand.
It should never be inflicted hastily, never in anger,
and never in such a way as to lead the culprit or
any witness to suppose that it is not painful to the
one who gives it, as well as to the one who re-
ceives it. Nor should it be made a small affair,^
let not the body of the child be assailed for any
but a serious cause, and then let the infliction be
such that there will be no wish to have it repeated.
If, with the same pupils, a teacher finds an increas-
ing necessity for corporal punishment, he may be
perfectly certain that there is something the matter
with himself; if he can not cure the evil, he should
seek another field or kind of labor. It need not be
said that punishment, even severe corporal punish-
ment, is perfectly consistent with the deepest love
of the teacher for his pupil ; in fact, love may
prompt the infliction of punishment, as it may
prompt any thing else that the pupil needs for his
guidance and direction.

We have now considered some of the general
questions of government; in our next chapter, we
will point out some of. the specific things necessary
to the teacher in order that he may govern well.

CHAPTER XV.
MANAGEMENT. — Concluded,

He Must be Master. — In order that the teacher
may govern his school well, he must be master. His
will must be law in his own domain; and there
must be no doubt about it, either in his own mind
or in the minds of his pupils. But, while this is
true, there need be no unnecessary exhibition of
authority ; least of all, should there be any boasting
or braggadocio on the part of the teacher. All
such exhibitions indicate a lack of confidence, if any
thing, and pupils are likely to put such a construc-
tion upon them. Besides, a boast from the teacher
appears to his pupils like daring them to transgress,
and a challenge is a great temptation to boys of
spirit. In nature, the strongest forces are always
quiet forces ; — for instance, gravitation or the power
of the sun's rays. The same thing is true among
men: the men who are obeyed most implicitly are
quiet men. Settled, unquestioned authority can
afford to be calm and quiet, — ^and calm and quiet
are necessary to the most successful settling of
questions of authority.

He Should Govern as Little as May Be. —
While there should be no question of the teacher's

(149)

1 50 Pedagogy.

right and power to govern, he should never exer-
cise his power without good reason for it; nothing
should ever be done simply to show that he has
authority. Good government is a blessing to hu-
manity; but the less show of government the
better always, provided its purpose be accom-
pHshed. The philosophy of the last statement is
very simple: we have seen that government should
be not an end in itself, — it is the means to an end;
viz., the good of the governed. It will always be
true that, if an end be secured, the less expendi-
ture of means the better.

About Making Rul?s. — Growing out of the prin-
ciple just given, are some practical suggestions about
making rules in school. The old-fashioned school-
master appeared before his school with a long and
elaborate set of rules, carefully drawn up ; these
rules seemed to be intended to command explicitly
every thing that should be done, and to forbid just
as explicitly every thing that should not be done.
They were often read to 'the school, and not seldom
they were printed or written, and posted up in some
conspicuous place. In a school so managed, the
sum of every offense consists in '* breaking a rule."
Now, a teacher has a perfect right to proceed in
this way ; and certainly it is, and should be, a grave
offense in any school to ** break a rule*' laid down
by authority. But there is a more excellent way.
There are at least five grave objections to a long
code of rules in a school.

First. — Make your list as long as you will, you can

Management. 151

not cover all cases that may arise. But, if you have
made a long list, and have taught pupils that the
breaking of a rule is the substance of each offense,
then they will infer, — and logically, too, — that
whatever they do, they have committed no offense
if they have broken no rule.

Second. — The enunciation of the rule will sometimes
suggest the thing forbidden, to the child's mind. An
old story is told of a careful mother who was about
to leave her large family of children for a little
time. Having a peck of beans in the house, it
occurred to her over-careful soul that her children
might be tempted to put them in their noses dur-
ing her absence. So, it is said that she left them
with the following emphatic words, enforced by an
ominous shake of her finger : * ' Now, children,
while I am gone, don*t you go and put any of
those beans in your noses. Do you hear ? '* Ac-
cording to the story, she found all their noses full
of beans on her return. Whatever may be the
truth of this story, there is no doubt that forbid-
ding a thing may often suggest the doing of it.

Third. — Human nature craves what is forbidden.
The old story of the disobedience of our first
mother is in perfect accord with the tendencies of
her descendants as we know them to-day.

Fourth. — Pupils will violate the spirit of a rule,
while they keep its letter. If whispering is forbidden,
writing on the slate may follow ; if all writing is
forbidden, too, perhaps the deaf and dumb alphabet
is used, etc. It would seem that, if the teacher's

152 Pedagogy.

system of government is the one that we are criti-
cising, he must make his indictment cover the
specific case, or no penalty ought to follow. In
this respect, government in the school should differ
from government in the state.

Fifth, — Every rule ties the teachers hands. If he
has made a law, he is bound to see it enforced ; if
he has threatened a fixed penalty for an offense, he
is not at liberty to vary it. All this is in the way
of his dealing freely with each misdemeanor as the
circumstances or the peculiarities of the case may
demand.

Two Kinds. — Shall the teacher make no rules?
We shall be able to answer this question better if
we notice that offenses in school may be broadly
divided into two grand classes: First, there are
things which are offenses in school because they
are wrong in themselves, — they are offenses any-
where ; of this class are lying, cruelty, obscenity,
etc. Against such offenses the teacher need have
no rule, except the general one, '*Do nothing
wrong, — do what is right.*'

The writer was once called to take charge of a school
where his predecessor, it seemed, had governed in the way
here condemned. Often, when a boy was called to account
for some bad behavior, he would put in the plea, " I did not
know it was against the rule." The answer was, *' It is not
against the rule ; a great many wicked things are not against
our rules, — we have no rule against murder. But did you
know it was wrong?'' As this question was put, with a look
square in the offender's eye, he often frankly confessed his
wrong-doing.

Management. 153

Second, There are very grave school offenses that
are not wrong in themselves, but are made offenses
by circumstances. Such are whispering, walking
around the school-room, etc. Against such offen-
ses, rules must sometimes be made ; but the teacher
should make as few as may be, and never make one
till it is needed.

Illustration, — Many years ago, the writer took charge of a
large grammar-school in an eastern city. Young trees, five
or six inches in diameter, were growing next the curbstone of
our sidewalks. He had been in his position for some months
before the boys molested those trees, so far as was known, nor
had it occurred to him that they would do so. But, boys have
a way of doing things by " fits," — they play marbles, fly kites,
etc., as the fit takes them, Nor are they very unlike older
people in this respect. One of these fits took the boys one
day while the teacher was gone to dinner ; and, on his return,
he found all those young shade-trees as full of boys as though
boys had been their appropriate crop. Now, in general, it is
a very proper thing for a boy to climb a tree. But climbing
small shade-trees in the city is a special case; the teacher
concluded an emergency was upon him, and something must
be done. As soon as the school had come to order, he passed
through the several rooms and laid down the rule that there
must be no more climbing of the trees ; and as the boys had
learned that a law meant what it said, that was the end of the
trouble.

The Teacher must be Truthful and Just. —
We have spoken of truthfulness and justice as
moral qualities; we now say that they are essential
to good government. When the pupil dearly un-
derstands that the teacher's word, in the form of a
promise or a threat, has been passed only after

154 Pedagogy.

careful consideration, and that it will be made good
at all hazards, a long step has been taken in good
government. And the same is true when the pupil
has come to know that his teacher will take all
pains to avoid doing him an injustice, even though
he may have occasion to treat him severely.

He Should Be Deliberate and Firm. — We have
said that the teacher should not pass his word till
he has considered the matter carefully. Thus, a
teacher of good judgment will rarely have need to
take a back step, — a back step is a sad thing for a
governing party. If, however, he finds that, with
all his care, he has made a mistake, the only manly
way, the only safe way, is to acknowledge his error
and take the back step. But if he has to do this
often, his government will surely suffer.

Teasing. — When it is understood that the teach-
er's word, once deliberately spoken, is final, much
has been done, not only to make his government
strong, but to make it easy to himself. A parent
or teacher who is annoyed by the ** teasing'* of a
child has only himself to blame for it. If the child
makes a request, and it is refused hastily and
thoughtlessly, he is very likely to prefer it again
pretty soon, perhaps over and over. Suppose the
answer, pettishly given by-and-by, should be,
' * Yes, yes ; I suppose I shall have no peace till I
let you do it." That child has learned a lesson in
teasing that will return to torment his ruler more
than once. Nor should wheedling and coaxing be
encouraged, any more than teasing.

Management. 155

The teacher may save himself many mistakes
and annoyances, if he will plan beforehand for per-
plexities and emergencies that are likely to arise.
He should defer a decision respecting any thing un-
expected that arises, if it can be done ; if a deci-
sion must be made at once, he can only use his
best judgment, and run the risk of a mistake.

The Teacher Should Seek to Avoid Issues
WITH Pupils or Parents. — A matter has reached
an ** issue" when two parties have been brought
into direct opposition to each other, and one or the
other must yield.

It will sometimes happen that an issue can not be
avoided reasonably or honorably; in such a case,
the teacher should take care that he has right on
his side, and then meet the issue squarely, deter-
mined to win. But heedless, headstrong teachers
quite often provoke issues in which they are sure
to be beaten; or, if they win, the victory is too
costly.

The Teacher Should Govern Himself. — ^This
includes nearly all that has been said, or that need
be said, in respect to the essentials of a teacher's
government. No one is fit to govern others till he
can govern himself, — nor is there any other victory
of government so hard to win. The proverb says,
"He that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that
taketh a city.*' Probably the word ** better" is
used in the sense of stronger, as we som.etimes
hear it used in common talk, — and, in this Aense,

156 Pedagogy,

the proverb is true. History tells of many men
who were able to take cities, but were unable to
rule their own spirits, — Alexander is a notable ex-
ample. Of course, it is to be understood that one
has a spirit to rule if it is to require strength to
rule it. Washington is an illustrious example of a
man who gained great power over others because
he first gained power over his own spirit, and there
is abundant evidence that his spirit was one that it
required power to control.

It must not be supposed that self-control means
an icy, impassive demeanor, nor slow and measured
speech, on all occasions; self-control is not neces-
sarily self-repression. True self-control implies the
power to do what needs to be done; it implies
the power to rouse and electrify, as well as the
power to calm or to awe. And this power is pe-
culiar to no age or sex; it is often lacking in the
stalwart, bearded man; and it is often present in
the slender girl not yet out of her *' teens.'* It is
largely a gift of nature; but, like all of nature's
gifts, it may be improved by cultivation.

Twelve Principles. — We will close this chapter
with a concise statement of a few principles of good
management :

First — No school can be well taught if it is not
well managed.

Second, — Never make any thing pertaining to
management an end in itself.

Third, — No work is ever likely to be well done
if it is not well planned.

Management, 157

Fourth. — A teacher's example weighs more than
his words.

Fifth, — Make no law, grant or refuse no request,
give no reproof, till you have thought about the matter.

Sixth, — When you have once taken your posi-
tion, stick to it.

Seventh, — If however, you see that you have
made a mistake, confess and rectify your mistake
like a man.

Eighth, — One who is kept busy about right
things has no time for mischief.

Ninth, — Be more anxious to prevent wrong-doing
than to punish it.

Tenth, — Often make a friend of a wayward pupil
by getting him to do you a service.

Eleventh, — Seek always the good of your pupils;
let good to yourself be incidental.

Twelfth — Never Punish in Anger.

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CHAPTER XVI.

LESSONS.

Lessons constitute the peculiar and special work
of the school ; hence, we should give attention to
this subject. What do we mean by lessons? How
should they be assigned? How learned? How re-
cited? These are some of the questions to be con-
sidered.

Recitations. — ^The noun *' recitation " comes from
the verb to recite. This is derived from the Latin .
citarey to say, to call, or to summon, joined with
the prefix re, meaning again. Literally, then, a
recitation consists in saying over what has been
learned, as a poem, a passage of Scripture, or a
lesson. This is the idea expressed by the child
when he asks his fellow, **Can you say your les-
son?" Now, the school exercises which we call
recitations ought to include much more than is ex-
pressed by the literal meaning of the verb, to
recite. It is somewhat unfortunate that we have no
more comprehensive word than the term recitation,
to apply to our school exercises. But, as this is
the term used by common consent, let us inquire
what special exercises a so-called recitation may
properly include.

(159)

1 60 Pedagogy.

Testing. — We mean, by testing, the ascertaining
of the pupil's knowledge of the lesson assigned for
that particular hour; this should be the first and
most important part of the recitation. The lesson
has been carefully assigned at some previous time,
to be learned from a book or from some other
available source. Now, the questions are: Has the
pupil tried faithfully to do his work? Has he suc-
ceeded? In what degree, or in what respect, has
he failed? His acquisition of the lesson should
have been two-fold, — ^that is, he should have mas-
tered the thought of the lesson, and he should be
prepared to state that thought in appropriate lan-
guage. He may have failed in either of these par-
ticulars. Skillful questioning may show that the
thought of the lesson has found a lodgment in his
mind with a fair degree of accuracy and fullness,
but that he is utterly unable, without aid, to give
that thought any appropriate dress in language.
Or he may have committed to memory excellent
language from the book, and be utterly ignorant as
to its meaning. In either case, there is a call for
inquiry and action on the part of the teacher. If
the failure is from no fault of the pupil, he needs
help. If it is a result of his own indolence or in-
attention, he needs help of another kind.

In no case should the matter be passed over
carelessly, nor should a movement be made towards
any thing else till the evil is corrected. If the pupil
has been unfaithful, reproof or punishment should
follow; if a large part of the class have been un-

Lessons, 1 6 1

faithful, no attempt at progress in any other direc-
tion should be made; but after reproof or punish-
ment the lesson should be assigned again, probably
with some addition, and the class should be dis-
missed. For this reason, the test should come
early in the recitation ; generally, the first thing,
that it may be known whether any thing else is to
be attempted. If the testing is fairly satisfactory,
then other exercises should follow or accompany it.

Instruction. — Hearing lessons recited is by no
means all of the teacher's business; he should
teach, instruct, give additional information, either
by explaining what the pupil has already studied,
or by giving new and additional matter from inde-
pendent sources.

And he should go before his class, every day,
fully prepared to give instruction in one or both of
these ways. How much light he may throw upon
the abstract statements of the text-book, by skillful
illustrations drawn from the every-day life in which
all are so intensely interested! How the showing
of pictures of men, of buildings, of landscapes,
may give a vividness to the lesson in reading or
history or geography! In short, there is no end
to what the teacher can do, by imparting additional
information, to give clearness and fullness of
thought, to awaken interest, to stimulate memory,
and to excite a strong desire to know yet more
upon the subject in hand. But, in order that these
desirable results may follow, the teacher must
traverse wide fields for his material, must carefully

Pcd.— 14.

1 62 Pedagogy.

sift and prepare it, must present it in a skillful way,
and must be sure to call for it again.

The very name /^jr/-book suggests the use that should be
made of it. It should be a book of texts, — short, clear state-
ments of facts or principles. It is the teacher* s business to
make these texts comprehended by the pupils, and to make
them the basis, or the nucleus, of a much larger stock of
information than any text-book can properly furnish.

Reviewing. — Generally, a recitation is incomplete
that does not include considerable reviewing. Re-
viewing is testing; but it is testing in respect to
former lessons ; while testing, as we have appropri-
ated the word, is confined to the lesson of the day.
Constant repetition, which is review, is necessary in
order to fix a thing firmly in the memory. But,
further, a matter brought up in review may take on
new meaning, from the fact that it may be seen in
new relations because of increased knowledge.

It should be understood that a review of the last
lesson is always in order ; also, that when any thing
in the present lesson is met that relates to some-
thing learned in any former lesson, a review of the
former lesson in regard to the point in question is
to be expected. Pupils with whom a teacher con-
stantly deals in this way will form the habit of
looking back, as they prepare their lessons, to join
the knowledge they are now gaining with what has
gone before." Besides the incidental reviewing here
indicated, of course room remains for frequent
thorough reviews. There is very little danger that
there will be too much reviewing.

Lessons. 163

Drilling. — We borrow this term from the sol-
dier*s practice; he goes through daily evolutions,
not because he does not know the movements, but
in order to make them automatic. The pupil
should *do similar work for a similar purpose. The
object of a review is to ascertain if knowledge pre-
viously gained has been retained; the object of a
drill is to make knowledge that is retained habit-
ual, — to give it an automatic or mechanical form.
In every study, some things need to be put in this
form, — elementary sounds, slides, and inflections in
reading; definitions, tables, and formulas in math-
ematics; dates in history; rules in grammar, etc.

Assigning Next Lesson. — At some time during
the hour of recitation, ample time should be taken
for the assigning of the next lesson, which, we
shall show, is not a matter that can safely be
treated so hurriedly and carelessly as many seem to
suppose. Generally, the best time to do this is at
the close of the lesson ; but, if for any reason, it is
likely to be treated slightingly if deferred till that
time, it may well claim a place immediately after
testing.

There is no absolute necessity that all of these
five things, which, it is claimed, belong legitimately
to what is called a recitation, should come in every
one. Drilling may oftenest be omitted ; but testing
and assigning the next lesson, rarely or never.
Nor is their order very essential, except to the
extent already indicated.

A skillful teacher will often contrive to have

1 64 Pedagogy.

several of these exercises going on at the same
time. When he is instructing or assigning a les-
son, he needs the attention of all his class ; but, by
the help of the blackboard or writing tablet, he
may have some pupils reviewing, some drillihg, and
some undergoing the testing process, at the same
time.

Assigning Lessons. — You may observe a care-
less teacher sitting in some lounging or easy atti-
tude when the time for closing the recitation
arrives; glancing hurriedly forward in his text-
book, he says: **Well, you may take six pages
next time; — no, perhaps five is enough, — class is
dismissed." Such actions and words betray woful
ignorance of his business or inexcusable laziness.
The fixing of the next lesson is a matter too im-
portant to be tossed off in that way.

Length. — It is very important that the lesson
should not be unreasonably long; evil is sure to
follow, but all pupils will not be injured in the
same way. There is one evil, however, that is
almost certain to follow when lessons of improper
length are given repeatedly, — that is, the formation
of bad habits of studying. The pupils in almost
any class of moderate number may be roughly di-
vided into three groups: ist. Those who are bright
and industrious ; 2d, Those who are plodding, faith-
ful, and ordinary in ability; 3d, Those who are
stupid, lazy, or tricky.

If too long a lesson is set before the first group,
they will learn it, if such a thing be possible, biit

Lessons. 165

mind or body, or both, will scarcely escape injury.
The second group will plod away and do their
best; but the result will be mere surface-work, or a
nebulous understanding of the matter. Continued
efforts of this sort will result in the formation of
the worst possible mental habits for the student.
The third group, discouraged or disgusted, will
probably seek some dishonest way of seeming to
have done the work, or they will flatly give up
with little or no effort, consoling themselves with
the saying, **One might as well die for an old
sheep as a lamb.'* This is the pet proverb of that
class of people.

If the lesson is too short, each of these groups
will receive special injury. The first will do the
work required, but the spare time remaining will be
a temptation to evil. The second, — generally by
far the most numerous, — will probably accomplish
the task, but will take twice the necessary time,
thus aggravating their natural habit of slowness.
The third, judging that the task is easy, will prob-
ably procrastinate until too little time remains even
for an easy task; here their pet proverb comes into
play again, and they will be likely to do nothing.

Hence, the length of the lesson should be just
right, — ^but it is no easy matter to determine what
is just right. We have divided our class into three
groups, but really no two pupils have exactly the
same ability to master a lesson. So, in determining
the length of the lesson, the teacher must make an
average of the ability of his class ; it is well, then,

1 66 Pedagogy,

to assign the lesson for those who are a little above,
this average. In the writer's experience, he has
found that moderately difficult lessons are better
learned, in general, than very easy ones.

Definiteness. — Exactly what will be required in
the lesson should be made so plain that no pupil
can say, *'I did not know what was wanted" with-
out criminating himself. In every lesson assigned
from a book, some things are more important than
others; these demand special attention, and they
should be clearly designated. The teacher may de-
sire to have some rule, principle, formula, or felic-
itous statement reproduced verbatim; he should
indicate such passages, and let the pupils know
clearly what he wants. He should tell what parts
he wishes mastered only in a general way, without
any special attempt at precision. He may deem
some statements unimportant or erroneous; then
he should let the pupils know that these may be
omitted. He may desire to have something added
to what the book gives, either from his own instruc-
tions or from some book of reference; then he
should tell the pupils exactly what he wants and
where it may be found.

The Teacher's Problem. — We shall probably
agree that the teacher's problem in assigning a les-
son correctly is not a very easy one. Let us see
what elements enter into it. First, He must consider
the inherent difficulties of the subject-matter; and,
in weighing its difficulties, he must look from the
learner's stand-point, not his own. Let him' recall

Lessons, 167

the lesson, not as it appears to him now, but as it
appeared at the first encounter. It is true that
things the more difficult, having once been mas-
tered, afterwards appear easier than other less diffi-
cult things with which we never had so severe a
battle. Second^ He must weigh the ability of the
class, considering each individually, and then make
an average. Third, He must take into account the
time allowed the pupils for preparation, and the
time allowed the class for recitation. Last, Various
circumstances ought to modify the length of the
lesson; not the same task should be set in warm,
debilitating weather, as in weather that is clear and
bracing, nor in a time of general ill-health as in a
time when health is good. The time in the term,
the pressure of home duties and other matters, may
well modify the teacher's demands on his pupils.
A problem of so much importance and difficulty
can not be well solved in the odd moments at school,
nor amid the distractions of the school-room. The
teacher should make it a matter of careful study in
the quiet and solitude of his own room. He
should give it ample time, and give all its elements
due weight and attention ; and he should go to his
school prepared to assign each lesson properly. If
he shall find something that he had not expected, —
for instance, that the lesson for the day is not well
learned, — he may modify the lesson he intended to
give.

SCHEME XI.

Note. — Connect this Scheme with Scheme X.

3. Hearing a Lesson.

I. Promptness of the

2. Rigidness.

3. Pupil "on his own feet,"

, 4. Questioning.

1. Teacher.

2. Pupils.

1. Literally.

2. Figuratively.

( I. Not Attempt too much at Once.
2. Well Mapped Out.
4. Oral Instruction, J 3. Reach the Points Intended.

(a) Meaning.

4. See that they are Understood.
^ 5. Call again for what is Given.

Ci6«)

CHAPTER XVII.
LESSONS. — Concluded.

Hearing Lessons. — Having assigned a reasona-
ble lesson, with the clearness and precision that we
have indicated, the teacher should see to it that the
lesson is properly recited when the time for recita-
tion comes.

Promptness. — ^The class should be called at the
exact moment indicated by the programme. ^ When
they are assembled, no time should be lost in call-
ing the roll, in adjusting books, in inquiries as to
the limits of the lesson, etc., — nor should any
member of the class be asked if he is prepared.
If, for any good reason, any pupil has failed to pre-
pare his lesson, let him rise at once, give his
reason, and ask to be excused; otherwise, it is to
be presumed that all are ready, and all should feel
responsible for the lesson as it was assigned.

In any class, or school, that does not contain more than
forty members, there is no need for a roll-call. Let each
pupil have his particular place, and a glance ought to enable
the teacher to know if he is in his place.

Let the recitation begin at once, with a brisk
movement, and let it continue briskly till the end is

Ped.— 16. (169)

1 70 Pedagogy.

reached or the time has expired. What was said
about the habit of rapidity applies here in full
force. At the end, let the class be dismissed as
promptly as it was called.

RiGiDNESS. — When a lesson, reasonable in kind
and length, has been assigned in the way we have
indicated, the teacher should be satisfied with noth-
ing less than complete work. One of the most
common, and most serious, faults of our teachers is
that they accept such miserably poor work, — they
often commend what should be heartily condemned.
If twenty places have been assigned for a lesson in
geography, the recitation of nineteen only is not
good, — nor of twenty even, if the answer comes
hesitatingly, slowly, and uncertainly. Nor, if ten
examples in arithmetic constitute the lesson, should
the work be pronounced well done when only nine
are solved, nor when the processes are slovenly or
some of the results inaccurate. The immediate
evils in such a case are not the most serious; they
are not to be compared with the habit formed of
meeting responsibilities imperfectly, or of being
satisfied with inaccurate work.

■

The Pupil on His Feet. — In reciting, the pupil
should stand on his own feet, both literally and fig-
uratively. The following are some of the reasons
why a pupil should stand to recite: Firsts He can
be heard better; especially is this true if the class
is large. Second, He feels a greater sense of
responsibility standing; when he is on his feet
he becomes conspicuous, — the onus of the work is

lessons. 1 7 r

thrown entirely upon him. He is likely to make
more careful statements, and to make them with
more deliberation. Nor is this a matter confined to
pupils in a class: it accords with a general prin-
ciple. A man will often shout out from a crowded
audience what he would not stand forth and say de-
liberately before the same people. If the pupil
can not answer a question, never suffer him to say
carelessly, '^I'd'n* know," from his seat. Make
him stand, and say distinctly, '*I do not know."
The chances are that he will be more likely to
know next time. A class of small children may
well stand during a whole recitation. The time
should be brief, as we have said, and the standing
will be a relief to them. If the class is large, or
difficult, it is often best for the teacher to stand ; in
such a case, he can work more effectively on his
feet. Both teacher and pupils should stand erect,
on both feet, without leaning on any person or
thing.

Figuratively^ the pupil should be on his own
feet, — that is, he should recite without aid from
any source whatever. We are not saying merely
that he should not look in his book, nor be
prompted by his fellows ; this is so obvious that we
need not mention it. Not unfrequently teachers
themselves guide shrewd pupils entirely through
their recitations without a suspicion that they are
doing so. This may be done by the words that
they supply from time to time ; but it may be done
without speaking a word. The teacher's nods or

172 Pedagogy.

smiles or frowns are often a complete index to the
character of the pupil's work; and it is a curious
study to see a shrewd, lazy pupil watch such a
teacher's face, while he feels his way through the
recitation of a subject that he does not half under-
stand. When the teacher has given the pupil his
topic, or asked the question to be answered, his
face should be as unmoved as that of the Sphinx
till the pupil has completed his work. An excep-
tion may be made, of course, when the pupils are
little children.

Nor should other members of the class make
demonstrations to show whether the one who is re-
citing is going right or wrong. No raising of
hands should be allowed till the pupil has finished
his recitation. The pupil who raises his hand may
be wrong in thinking that a mistake has been made ;
in any case, mischief only can result. If the one
reciting is timid, the raising of a classmate's hand,
whether there be reason for it or not, is likely to
confuse him ; if he is shrewd and tricky, the raising
of a hand the moment he makes a mistake may
enable him to recover himself when he ought to
fail. Often, he knows that one of two answers is
correct, but he is not sure which is right. If rais-
ing hands be allowed, you will see him try one of
the answers cautiously, looking slyly out of the
corner of his eye; on the first appearance of a
hand rising, he changes to the other answer in the
most prompt and confident way, and comes off
victorious.

lessons, I y^

When a pupil's recitation is finished, those who
have criticisms may show hands, — only with a class
of small children should it be permitted sooner.
When an ill-prepared pupil is floundering in his
work, the teacher is often prompted to help him,
from sympathy or mistaken kindness. But true
and wise kindness will let him struggle on, or fail
even ; only in this way can he be taught to depend
upon himself Sometimes, however, the teacher's
laziness or impatience prompts him to recite for his
pupil; it is quicker and easier for the teacher to
make the recitation than to wait for the pupil to do
it.

Questioning. — ^This is a very important part of
the teacher's work; skill here is a very valuable
kind of skill. If the text-book has questions
printed in it, it is rarely best to use them; they
may aid the pupil in preparing his lesson, but in
recitation other questions should generally be put.
When the question in the book is used, let it be
changed in form; if, for instance, the question is,
* * What cape at the southern extremity of South
America?" put it in this way: *.* Where is Cape
Horn?" Leading questions should not be asked, —
that is, questions which by their form indicate what
answer is expected. The lesson must be so con-
ducted that the pupil shall do his own thinking.

In a good recitation, the pupil does much the
larger part of the talking. He should be required
to use good language in his answers ; but it should
generally be other language than that of the book.

1 74 Pedagogy.

The contrary course is likely to result in ** parrot"
recitation, to a greater or less degree. If the pupil
makes a mistake in his language, it is generally
best to let him finish his statement before calling on
him to correct his language; but the teacher must
be very careful not to let the mistake pass uncor-
rected. If, however, the mistake is one that the
same pupil makes habitually, he should be stopped
instantly, on every occasion, until the habit is
broken up.

Questions calling for a general answer from all
the class must be used sparingly and cautiously.
When a class is timid or dull, such questions may
be of use, — so, also, when "drilling" is the pur-
pose. But for the purpose of ''testing," they are
wholly untrustworthy; the lazy pupil who knows
nothing of the lesson adds his voice to the general
sound, and so covers up his delinquency. But,
even when he has no intention to deceive, his un-
prepared condition may be hidden from his own
mind till he is called on to make a full statement
individually.

Order. — ^The order in which the questions shall
be given to the class is a very important matter.
If they are passed around the class in the same in-
variable order, it will happen, sometimes, that
shrewd and lazy pupils will prepare to answer no
questions but those that will fall to their "turn."
But the most honest pupil is likely to let his atten-
tion wander when he has answered his question, and
knows that some time will elapse before he will

Lessdns. 175

again be called on. When this order is followed,
the person whose turn it is to answer will usuall}
be the only one who is reciting at the moment,
whereas all the class should be reciting, — ono
orally, the others mentally. It is often well to stop
the pupil who is talking, in the midst of a sen-
tence, and require some other pupil to begin ex-
actly where the first left oflF. If it is understood that
this is likely to be done at any moment, probably
all the class will follow the recitation closely.

in order to avoid the routine in questioning that
we have criticised, it is well for the teacher to pro-
pound his question, and then ask at random for
some one to answer it. But he must be very care-
ful, when he ** skips around" his class in this way,
that he does not neglect any of the members. He
will be tempted to call on the bright and ready
pupils most frequently, but he must remember that
the other pupils need most the discipline that will
be gained by reciting.

Some teachers are in the habit of inviting the pupils who
can answer a question to indicate that fact by raising their
hands. This is very well when the teacher is developing a
subject; but, when the class are reciting a lesson on which
they are supposed to be prepared, it is wholly wrong. It
should be understood that the teacher expects every one to
be prepared.

On reviews or examinations, it is well to assign
the questions or topics in some way by lot. The
teacher who has been with his class a term, gener-
ally knows whether any given pupil can answer any

1 70 Pedagogy.

given question ; so it follows that, if he distribute
the questions as he chooses, he will either put them
to such pupils as he knows to be able to answer
them, or he must deliberately lead some one to
fail by giving him a question that he knows he can
not answer. But, if he distribute the questions by
lot, he relieves himself of all responsibility, and can
not be charged with unfairness, whatever may be
the result. If pupils know that they will be exam-
ined in this way, they are more likely to be careful
to prepare on all the questions or topics pertaining
to the subject in hand.

Oral Instruction. — By this we do not mean the
explanations and additional information already
spoken of, but rather something entirely apart from
the text-book, — the developing before the class, or
the school, of a subject not yet studied by the
pupils in any book. Considerable work of this
kind should be done in every school ; this will be
apparent, if we think for a moment how many
topics there are on which pupils ought to be in-
structed, but which are not treated of directly in
any of their set lessons. A few suggestions will
be given in respect to work of this sort.

Not Too Much Matter. — Most teachers who
attempt oral lessons undertake to give too much at
a time. They are likely to forget that minds, es-
pecially of children, can not grasp and master a
great deal of new matter at once. A teacher is es-
pecially liable to err in this way when he presents a
subject with which he is very familiar. He forgets

Lessons. 177

that what seems so easy to him may be very diffi-
cult when presented for the first time. Here we
might repeat what was said about looking at lessons
from the pupil's ** point of view/*

Well Mapped Out. — ^The teacher who is to give
an oral lesson should go before his class with the
matter clearly mapped out in his own mind, and
perhaps drawn out in writing, in the form of a
scheme. He should have clearly determined what
points he proposes to reach, and in what order they
should be reached. In proper oral teaching, there
must be a free conference between teacher and
pupils, — questions must be asked and answers be
given by both parties. Of course, one can not deter-
mine beforehand what the entire conversation will
be, as we find it laid down in some Manuals on
*'Oral Teaching'* and ** Object Lessons.*' An
attempt to make the conversation conform strictly
to some prescribed pattern will make an oral lesson
more mechanical, dull, and unproductive than the
most formal recitation of lessons memorized from a
tolerable text-book. But the landmarks of the les-
son, the points to be reached, may be settled be-
forehand, as well as the exact and clear language
in which to state the conclusions when they shall
have been found.

Reach the Points. — As the conversation must
be a free one, if the teacher is not cautious he may
find some side question suggested that will draw
him off from his line of thought to such an extent
that he will not put the points he intended before

1 78 Pedagogy,

his class. It requires some thought and skill in the
teacher to treat such side issues in a reasonable and
intelligent way, and still to withstand their ten-
dency to ** switch him off his track."

See that They are Understood. — ^The teacher
may have reached his points in his own mind, and
may have put his conclusions before his class; but
he should not dismiss the subject till he has ascer-
tained that he has been correctly understood.

A story will illustrate the danger against which we are
warning. A Sunday-school teacher undertook to explain the
meaning of faith to his class in this way : He called their
attention to a boat floating on the river, in full view from the
window. He said, "Boys, do you see the boat?" "Yes,
sir." "Can you see the bottom of the boat?" "No, sir."
"Do you know what is on the bottom of the boat?" "No,
sir." " If I should tell you that there is a leg of mutton in the
boat, would you believe it?" "Yes, sir." "Could you see
it?" "No, sir." "But you would believe it is there?"
" Yes, sir." " Well," said he, " that would be faith." Like a
good teacher, on the next Sunday he brought up the review
before going forward with the new lesson. "Boys," said he,
"who can tell me what faith is, this morning?" Many hands
were raised. "Johnny, you may tell." "A leg of mutton in
a boat, sir."

Call Again for What is Given. — In oral les-
sons, as everywhere else, the good teacher will
impress it on his pupils that they must be respon-
sible for reproducing what has been given them.
Failures in this regard are very common ; probably
more than half of all that is put before students
orally, from the lectures in the college and the pro-

Lessons. 1 79

fessional school down to the object lessons in the
primary school, is wholly lost, because the pupil
does not expect to be made responsible for it. A
good teacher of children and youth always reaps
where he sows ; and his pupils are led to know that
such will be the case before they have been with
him a yery long time.

SCHEME XII.

Note. — Connect this Scheme with Scheme X.

( X. Reading*

5. Teaching Particu-
lar Subjects, . .

a. Writing.

3. Spelling,.

4. Drawing.

5. Singing.

6. Grammar.

X. Definitions.

2. Primary Teaching.

3. A Method.

4. Analysis.

, 5. Advanced Reading.

ii. With Beginners.
2. With Older Pupils.

7. Arithmetic, . . .

8. Algebra.

9. Geoiftetry.

10. Geography, . . .

11. History.

12. Natural Science.

( I. Pri
\ 2. Wi

Language Lessons.
Technical Grammar.

Primary Work.
Written Work.

ii. Primary Work.
2. Advanced Work.

CiSo)

CHAPTER XVIII.

TEACHING PARTICULAR SUBJECTS.

This is not a book of methods. We shall not
enter extensively into the modes of teaching the
ordinary studies of the school ; but we shall merely
attempt to point out some of the aims to be kept
in view, and some of the principles that should
guide the work.

Reading. — ^This subject should claim our atten-
tion first, as reading is the key to all the rest; nor
is it the key to school-room studies alone, but to
all the vast stores of knowledge that wise men have
embalmed in books. Moreover, oral reading, when
its quality is good, is a means of enjoyment to
others, and of high aesthetic culture, Hke music,
painting, and sculpture. What, then, is reading?

Definitions. — F. W. Parker says, ** Reading is
getting thought by means of written or printed
words arranged in sentences." **Oral reading is
the vocal expression of thought that is gained by
written or printed words.'* As an amendment to
these excellent statements, we suggest that feeling
or emotion, as well as thought, may be, and gener-
ally should be, derived from written or printed lan-
guage, and it should be expressed in oral reading.

(I8i)

1 82 Pedagogy,

Reading is Talking from a Book, — We offer this
as a good, short definition of oral reading. Mere
calling of words, however correctly done, is not
reading. But when the reader, having gained from
the written or printed page the thought and feeling
there expressed, delivers that thought and feeling
just as he would had they originated in his own
mind, he is reading. Hence, oral reading implies
two things: ist. The power to gain from the writ-
ten or printed page the thought and feeling ex-
pressed there ; 2d, The power of so delivering the
words orally that the same thought and feeling
shall be awakened in the hearer.

Primary Teaching. — In teaching reading, as in
teaching any thing else, the work will not be
rightly done unless we begin with the learner's
present stock of knowledge and his present power
to do, and go on systematically from that starting
place. What, then, is the status of the ordinary
child as he enters school for the first time? He
has already gained much knowledge through his
senses. He has learned a great number of words,
and he has learned to combine them properly in
sentences. If he has heard nothing but correct
speech, he may be able to talk elegantly. He has
learned to express his ideas and thoughts and feel-
ings with a wonderful propriety of pitch, tone, em-
phasis, and inflection. How often a roomful of
grown people are moved to a smile by the naturals
ness of a child's expression when he talks out of
his own thought and heart!

Teaching Particular Subjects, 183

Evidently, then, the first work of a child in learn-
ing to read is to learn to translate the written or
printed signs, — to associate the symbols that ap-
peal to the eye with the words that appeal to the
ear. ^A^hatever aids in this work of association is
helpful, — any thing else is a hindrance.

How is it best to begin this work? Negatively,
not by teaching the alphabet; these letters have no
connection with any thing already in the child's
mind. Not by the immediate use of books, or
cards, or charts; an introductory work should pre-
pare for the use of these.

A Method. — ^Take a real object with which the
child is familiar, and in which he is interested; it
may be a cat, or dog, etc. Have the object itself,
a toy representation of it, or a picture of it, — or all
of them, — actually present. Talk with the child
about the object; get him to talk about it. Call
his attention to the spoken word that represents the
object; with this he is already familiar. Put now
the corresponding word on the blackboard in neat
script. Point to the word, and let him point to the
object, naming it at the same time. Let him at-
tempt to reproduce the word on his slate. Intro-
duce every variety of exercise that your ingenuity
will suggest, to make the form of the word familiar
to him, and to strengthen the association between
the written symbol and the spoken word.

Proceed in this way, very slowly, day by day,
until he has learned the written words correspond-
ing to the names of five or six familiar objects.

1 84 Pedagogy,

Next, give him a few familiar verbs, like run, sit,
pat, sleep, etc., in a similar way, letting him per-
form the action indicated in response to the written
word. You are now prepared to put short and
familiar sentences on the board, using the nouns
and verbs already learned, and letting the child
learn the articles, prepositions, and connectives by
sight, as they are needed. Impress upon the child
the thought that you are ** talking with your chalk
or- pencil.'* Let him read the sentences you write,
and perform the acts any of those sentences indicate.

Do not Read the Sentences for Him, — If your work
is slowly and carefully done, he will read correctly
out of his own thought and imagination : this is a
real reading. If you read the sentence for him, he
will imitate your spoken words, perhaps with no
conception whatever of their meaning. This will
lead at once to the parrot-like imitation that so
often passes for genuine reading, even with the pro-
fessional elocutionist.

Several weeks or months should be given to this
work, and not more than forty or fifty words should
be attempted in the time. The pupil should write
the words he learns, on his slate, — at first singly,
then combined into sentences. After the pupil has
learned these words thoroughly, has learned to read
readily the sentences containing them, and has
learned to make them on his slate, he may be
taught the printed equivalents for his script. Let
the teacher first print the words neatly beside the
same words in script.

Teaching Particular Subjects. 1 85

There is no need for the child to print.

Now the child is ready for his books and charts ;
but he must not be asked to learn new words too
rapidly.

Analysis. — During all this time, no attempt has
been made to teach the child his letters, — that is,
to analyze the written words. Nor has he been
taught to analyze the spoken words. Now, per-
haps the time has come for both. He really knows
his letters; but he has not learned to distinguish
them, nor to call them by name. But, if the pre-
vious work has been done well, he can very soon
do both. Nor should he omit to learn the order of
the letters in the alphabet.

He may be taught the analysis of the spoken
words, also, at about the same time. He knows
the elementary sounds, and. he can make them with
more or less success; but he has not learned to
distinguish them. The teacher may lead him to do
this by *'slow pronunciation.'* As a single exam-
ple, let the teacher say: *'P-u-t o-n th-e c-a-p,"
requiring the pupil to suit the action to the word.
\Po not name these letters ; give the sounds,^ When
the pupil has learned to distinguish the separate
sounds, he may then be taught to make them. He
is now ready to begin the arduous task of learning
to associate the elements of the written and spoken
words, — that is, the phonic elements with the let-
ters that represent them.

Do not Speak of the ''Sounds of the Letters.'' —
Letters have no sounds. Letters represent sounds

Pcd.— 16.

1 86 Pedagogy,

which were made and recognized long before letters
were invented.

The method of teaching primary reading outlined
above is no mere theory; it is essentially the one
used by our most progressive and successful teach-
ers. Of course, the details may vary indefinitely.

Advanced Reading. — The teaching of reading to
advanced pupils will vary greatly in mode from the
teaching of primary reading, but the same princi-
ples should guide the work. True oral reading
proceeds from within, outward, — never in the re-
verse order. First, there must be a mastery, and
an appropriation, of the thought and feeling ; then,
there must be a proper expression of the same.
All formal rules are as futile for direction in reading
as they are in speech ; all marking of emphases, of
inflections, and of the quality of the voice, pitch,
etc., is sure to hamper the reader who attempts to
follow such marks in reading.

Directions as to the length of pause or kind of
inflection at the marks of punctuation, are absurd.

The rules of syntax serve an admirable purpose,
no doubt, but he who attempts to think of them as
he speaks will make a poor speaker. The same
may be said about the ** Rules for Reading.*'

Proper drill in the use of the vocal organs, exer-
cises in pitch, power, emphasis, inflection, quality
of tone, etc., will serve a very useful purpose as
drill simply, or as preparatory work. But, when
one *' reads orally," he should first master the
thought and feeling of his author; then, with no

Teaching Particular Subjects, 187

consciousness but of that thought and feeling, give
forth the true expression. If one be taught, from
the beginning, to read in the way we have indi-
cated, he will never be content to read, like Ham-
let, ** Words, words, words," when he grows older.

Furthermore, if he has learned to get the mean-
ing from the printed page, if he is accustomed from
the beginning to have his inner nature stirred by
what he reads, he is not likely either to give up
reading, or to develop a fondness for the vapid,
worthless literature that appeals to the weak only.
We think that a correct teaching of reading has
much to do in solving the question of the apprecia-
tion and love of good literature.

Writing. — We have recommended that the pupil
begin to write as soon as he begins to read. We
believe this agrees with the laws of the child's
nature. In order to write a word, he needs to
study its form, and then to train his muscles to
imitate that form with chalk or pencil. His per-
ceptive powers are keen; why may he not use
them in studying the forms of words as well as in
any ^ other way? His tendency to use his muscles
is irrepressible, — they fairly '*ache'* to be used;
why may they not be used in copying forms of the
words he has studied? Besides, he has a great
desire to do what he sees his teacher do; why not
train him to imitate her production of written
words? Furthermore, experience proves that it is
entirely practicable for children to learn to write
thus early. At first, the pupils* attempts will be

1 88 Pedagogy.

simply attempts to imitate without any analysis or
description. But, as soon as they have learned
their letters, they will be ready to practice and to
describe the analysis of the letters as taught in any
good system of penmanship.

Let the teacher choose good, but the simplest,
forms for the letters she uses in the words she
gives her little pupils to copy. Let her treat their
first efforts very leniently. Let her allow them a
great deal of practice ; it will enable them to pass
many hours happily, instead of spending them in
the torture of ** sitting still."

We would suggest the following rules as impor-
tant to be observed by the teacher:

First, — Select the simplest forms for the letters,
and teach but one form for each.

Second, — Put no false forms before the little pu-
pil, and remove in the quietest and quickest way
such false forms as he may make.

Third, — Proceed slowly and insist upon very care-
ful work; fully recognize and encourage all effort,
and give reasonable success its full meed of praise.

It is very desirable that the pupil early acquire
the power to write in order that he may practice
* * talking with the pencil, ' ' as well as understand
what others say with the pencil. In this way, he
will grow into the habit of ** composition " as nat-
urally and as easily as he becomes accustomed to
hear and to use the forms of oral speech. There is
one great advantage in the child's expressing him-
self by writing over expression by speech alone, —

Teaching Particular Subjects, 1 89

he is more likely to show his individuality ; the ten-
dency is less strong to imitate merely.

Spelling. — Of course, in merely copying the
forms of words the pupil begins his work in spell-
ing, even though he may not yet have learned to
distinguish the letters. When he comes to make
such distinction, he is studying spelling more
effectively. And he is studying it in the only way
that is practical, — that is, as he has occasion to use
it. He learns to spell each word when he learns
the word; he gets the correct picture of it in his
mind, and he learns to make that picture. More-
over, he learns the form of the word in connection
with its meaning; this is the only reasonable way.
There is no occasion for the absurd practice of
spelling lists of abstract words.

By this method, the child forms the habit of
looking at words in their parts, — of taking cog-
nizance of the letters that make up a written word
at the time he learns the word. Why is not his
sight as truly trained in analyzing a word as in an-
alyzing a flower?

If the plan of learning to spell every word as the
word is acquired is kept up in all the pupil's
course, as it ought to be, he will be able to spell
all the words in his vocabulary ; he has no occasion
to spell any others. The problem of learning to
spell is solved, and it is solved in the right way.

There is no use for the spelling-book.

By the process of primary teaching that we have
recommended, the pupil is learning to read, to

ijpo Pedagogy,

write, and to spell at the same time; this is right,
and one process will help the others. Yet it will
be observed that reading is emphasized first, then
writing, then spelling; this, we think, is the right
order. And the simplest uses of capitals and
punctuation marks may also be taught at the same
time.

Older Pupils. — The teacher who has to deal
with pupils whose primary education has been dif-
ferent will find need for exercises in spelling. But
the most profitable work will still be done by writ-
ing. Let the word to be spelled be pronounced
clearly and correctly, and but once. Let the writ-
ing be with ink, and allow no changes nor erasures.
Let the work be carefully corrected, and the missed
words be rewritten properly.

Oral spelling is of but little value.

As a rule, the spelling of words in English must
be learned individually. Something may be gained
by grouping in families, by studying prefixes and
suffixes, and by forming derivatives. When one is
able to study the etymology of words, that may
help his spelling ; for instance, one is not likely to
misspell exhilarate, if he remembers its connection
with hilarity ; nor exonerate, if he connects it with
onerous.

There are very few rules for spelling that are of
any practical value. We know of none except
these three:

First. — Final silent e is omitted on taking a suffix
beginning with a vowel.

Teaching Particular Subjects, 191

Second.- — Final y^ preceded by a consonant, is
changed to i on taking any suffix which does not
begin with /.

Third, — Monosyllables and words accented on the
last syllable, ending in a single consonant preceded
by a single vowel, double the final consonant on
taking a suffix beginning with a vowel.

The Exceptions to these rules are very few,
although every one of them has some exceptions;
these exceptions should be carefully learned.

Drawing. — Reading and writing are modes of
expression; and drawing, in its elements, should be
taught to children as a mode of expression also.
Its relation to art may properly be ignored in ordi-
nary classes of beginners. The wish to draw, to
*'make" something, is almost universal with chil-
dren. Many of us can remember when it was a
crime in school to indulge this propensity. A
better day has dawned, and children are now
allowed to beguile many a weary hour with slate
and pencil. A little care, encouragement, and in-
struction from a wise teacher can develop this taste
in children into an efficient and pleasing mode of
expression. Lead the children to draw simple
forms, help them to see the characteristic lines and
to reproduce them; encourage effort, recognize any
real success, and insist upon slow and careful work.

Singing. — ^This, too, is a mode of expression in
which most children take delight. Unlike the
others, it is primarily an expression of the feelings.
Care should be taken that the little songs shall be

192 Pedagogy,

simple, but that they shall not be nonsense. The
children should learn them by rote at first, and
should be taught to sing them with correct expres-
sion. Do not suffer them to shout nor scream in
their singing. Encourage a clear delivery of the
words.

It has been found that children can learn simple
musical notation very early; but it is not dur pur«
pose to speak of that in this connection.

CHAPTER XIX.
TEACHING PARTICULAR SUBJECTS. — Concluded,

Grammar. — Many text-books on grammar con-
tain this sentence : * * English grammar teaches us
to speak and to write the English language cor-
rectly.'* It is certain that as grammar is commonly
studied this is not true. Many who are most ex-
pert in the processes of analysis and parsing are ex-
ceedingly clumsy and inaccurate in their use of the
English language, nor do their grammatical exer-
cises have any apparent effect to improve their lan-
guage. The distinction between practical language
lessons and the study of technical grammar is a
very obvious one, and the teacher caii not afford to
ignore it, nor to lose sight of it.

Language Lessons. — ^The child learns to talk cor.
rectly by talking correctly. If he hears nothing
but good language, he acquires the habit of using
good language unconsciously. But the great trouble
is, that few or no children hear none but correct
speech. Hence, the teacher needs to exert himself
to correct the evil effects of incorrect language
heard by the child at home, in the play-ground, on
the streets, etc. Lessons in language are the first
to be given in school ; training in the awakening of

Ped.-17. (193)

1 94 Pedagogy,

thought and in the art of expressing thought is the
chief work of the primary teacher. Nor should the
training in the art of expression be relinquished
or relaxed during the whole period of pupilage.
This is not the place to point out methods of doing
this work, — we simply insist on the absolute im-
portance of it. One who inquires earnestly how to
do it will find many helpful books in the market,
but his success will depend mainly upon two
things: First, The correctness of his own speech;
Second, His ingenuity in devising ways of leading
his pupils into habits of expressive and correct
language.

Technical Grammar. — ^The successful pursuit of
this study demands a good degree of maturity of
mind, and a previous training in the processes of
reflection and analysis. Hence, this should be one
of the last studies to be taken up in a country
school. In our graded schools, it should be de-
ferred until the pupil is nearly ready for the High
School, — if, indeed, it should be undertaken at all
before the pupil enters the High School.
. When the study is undertaken, the pupil should
be led to an acquaintance with the laws of English
speech by an inductive study of the English lan-
guage itself. As in any other inductive study, a
good text-book may aid; but it must be a text-
book made from a study of the English tongue, not
a Latin Grammar reconstructed to fit the English
language. When the study is properly pursued by
pupils who are prepared for it by age and previous

Teaching Particular Subjects, 1 95

training, few studies, if any, will surpass grammar
in interest or profit.

Arithmetic. — ^The first thing to be said about
arithmetic is that it takes much too large a propor-
tion of the time in a majority of our schools. Yet,
while this is true, very few pupils become really
accurate and expert in the practice of arithmetic.
We think there are several reasons for this, some
of which will be given.

Sufficient care is not taken to teach the pupil
numbers themselves, — he is hurried too soon into
notation, and a manipulation of abstract symbols.*
He is not drilled upon the fundamental processes
until he thoroughly masters them. The subject is
made too complicated; operations involving the
same principles and essentially the same processes
are treated as though there were no likeness be-
tween them. The multiplication of ** rules*' and
"cases" is needless, confusing, and discouraging.
Not enough practice is given in examples from real
life, such as the pupil does not find classified and
arranged under their respective "rules." Usually,
the pupil has the "answer" before him, and works
to obtain the figures which express the answer,
instead of solving his problem in a practical and
independent manner. Fully one third of the

* •• Discriminate very sharply between learning number and learning
the language of number. The former must precede the latter. If I am
any judge of results, nine tenths of the teaching of arithmetic consists in
teaching figures alone, with little or no regard to numbers." — F. IV.
Parker.

1 96 Pedagogy.

text-book is usually made up of matter wholly
irrelevant, consisting either of preposterous puzzles
or of work that is special and technical. Why
should the special work of the banker, the custom-
house officer, etc., enter into the general course of
instruction in arithmetic ? If the pupil thoroughly
master the principles, and become quick and ac-
curate in calculation, the work of the common
school is done; the special applications of these
principles m^y well be deferred till he enters the
bank or the counting-room.

Primary Work. — ^The first steps in arithmetic
should lead the pupil to a full and thorough knowl-
edge of a few of the smallest numbers. A child
may be able to count ten, who does not know ten.
He does not know ten till he knows thoroughly all
the numbers that will make ten, and can put to^
gether all possible unequal numbers to make ten,
as well as all equal numbers that will give the same
result. He must know also all the ways in which
ten can be destroyed, either by taking away un'
equal numbers, or by withdrawing equal numbers.

In all this elementary work, he must deal with
objects, not with abstractions. Let him count
objects, always putting four things together when
he says "four** in his counting, etc. Often the
child's counting is a mere saying of empty words ;
when his ** three'* is not an empty word, it often
means only the third instead of an aggregate of
three ones. It is thought by many experienced
teachers that a child does well if he really learns

Teaching Particular Subjects, 197

the first ten numbers in one year. But, whatever
time it may take, his first business should be to
learn these numbers thoroughly; he is not ready
for notation, nor for any use of figures beyond a
simple writing of these numbers, until this work is
done.

Written Work. — When the pupil passes on to
written work in arithmetic, he should be shown
that the chief use of figures is to enable him to
make computations with numbers too large for him
to grasp mentally, — the thought necessary to lead to
a correct process is just the same as in the case of
small numbers, where no figures are used. There
is no reason for the wide distinction between
* * mental " and * * written '* arithmetic.

In beginning the use of figures in computation,
let the child first master the process thoroughly;
the reasons for "carrying,*' for ** inverting the divi-
sor," etc., may come later, — first, how ; then, why.
A very thorough drill* on the simple operations, the
** ground rules," should be given; slow progress
here, if sure, is true haste. The pupil should not
only learn his multiplication table completely, but
he should learn the prime factors of all numbers as
high as one hundred, and he should learn the
squares as far as the square of twenty-five at least.
Usually, the subject of factors and factoring is
passed over quite too slightly.

He should be encouraged to use short methods
whenever it is possible, and he should be taught to
be on the lookout for opportunities to use them.

1.98 Pedagogy,

The distinct principles of arithmetic are very few,
and the pupil should be led to see what operations
rest on the same principle, once for all; and then
he should be held to recognize that principle in all
cases to which it applies. He should be taught to
be satisfied with nothing short of accuracy; if he
has made a mistake in his work, that work should
not be erased till the mistake has been found and
corrected. He should be taught to avoid frequent
changes in his work; let him put his figures down
with the thought that they are not to be changed,
but are to stand as first written. It may be well to
forbid him to use an eraser in any case without
special permission. None but neat work should
ever be accepted by the teacher.

Algebra. — The study of algebra in our common
schools should aim chiefly to throw light on the
principles and processes of arithmetic, and to train
the pupils' power of abstraction and reasoning. It
is not of much consequence to find the length of a
pole that is partly in the mud, partly in the water,
and partly in the air!

The first business in learning algebra is to master
the notation ; every algebraic term is a word or
phrase in algebraic language, — the equation is the
sentence. Finding an equation for a problem is
translating that problem from common language
into the language of algebra.

Great care must be taken that technical terms do
not obscure thought ; the pupil should be asked to
give and to illustrate their meaning very frequently.

Teaching Particular Subjects. 199

•

It is often well to forbid the use of technical terms
for a time ; let the pupil describe his operations on
an equation without once saying *' transpose, "
** change signs," ''collect terms," etc. The pupil
should often be required to translate formulas into
rules, and rules into formulas; in short, he should
be led to see that, in elementary algebra, he is sim-
ply using a briefer and more general language than
he has found in his arithmetic.

Geometry. — Dr. Thomas Hill, in his "True
Order of Studies," shows that the study of form
may well come before algebra, or primary arith-
metic even, — it is a study for young children.
This is not properly a study of geometry, but it is
an excellent preparation for that study. In the
early steps in geometry, great care must be taken
that the pupil does not fail to see the relation of
what he is now studying to the things that have
claimed his thought and attention previously. As
in algebra, he must not allow his thought to be
clouded by technicalities. It is generally best to
forbid the use of the same letters in the same
places on the figures used in the class demonstra-
tion that were found in the text-book. It is well,
also, to encourage the pupil to draw his figure in
as many forms as he can, only taking care that they
conform to the hypothesis as given.

Few studies, if any, will do more to develop the
mind of the pupil than will geometry when it is
properly taught, and the teaching of this subject
might well occupy much time that is frittered away

200 Pedagogy.

over the puzzles in the back part of our ** higher"
arithmetics.

Geography. — No other study, except reading,
can be made more interesting to the child, or can
be made to lead out the, thoughts in all directions
more successfully than geography. And yet, as it
is often taught, no other study is so dry or profit-
less. The trouble is that it is made a mere memor-
izing of words, or at best an attempt to stuff the
memory with a multitude of unrelated, often unim-
portant, facts. In no study, perhaps, is the princi-
ple that we should begin with the child where we
find him, more grossly violated than in geography.
What has the first part of most Primary Geogra-
phies to do with any thing the child has ever seen,
heard, or dreamed of? When he comes to a map,
what is done to enable him to put any real mean-
ing into the queer conglomeration of form and
color? The result is that he learns words about a
world he never saw, and he hunts out names on a
map that means nothing beyond the thing itself.
He shuts up his book and map, leaves them in his
desk, and goes out into the real world hardly think-
ing that what he now meets has any connection
with what he has left.

Primary Work. — A certain amount of prelimi-
nary work should be done in the primary classes,
to prepare the pupil for the study of geography, —
copious and thorough exercises in learning direc-
tion, distance, and relative position are what we
mean. Then, he needs to learn the language by

Teaching Particular Subjects. 201

which these things are expressed in maps and
charts. Let the teacher, with his little pupils,
make a survey of the school-room, observing the
directions, distances, and relative positions of the
parts of the room and of the objects in it. Then,
let the teacher make a plan or map of the school-
room on the blackboard, properly representing all
these things.

It is well to make this map on the north side of the
room.

This map may be made the key to the reading
of all maps; it is a symbol to the pupil of some-
thing he has seen; and through it he may learn
how to get knowledge of what he can not see by
the use of similar symbols. A map of the school-
room should be followed by a map of the school-
yard, then by one of the neighborhood or the
village.

Other things in the neighborhood should now be
studied : the familiar brook must be made the type
of rivers ; the hill, of the mountains ; the plain, of
the prairies, etc. The business of the neighbor-
hood must be made the medium for understanding
the occupations of men the world over. The polit-
ical, social, and religious affairs of the village or
town must be made the key to the politics, religion,
and social life of the nations.

When this stock of knowledge of his immediate
surroundings is made conscious and systematic to
the child, then he is prepared to enter on the study
of geography.

202 Pedagogy.

The usual progress of the child is from the whole
to parts, and now he is prepared for some lessons
upon the earth as a whole. Here a globe is of
prime value; only, care must be taken that the
pupil regard the globe as a symbol, — his thought
must not be allowed to stop with the globe itself.
Suppose the teacher has no globe ? Use a foot-ball
or a pumpkin ; an ingenious teacher can always find
means of illustration. Make no attempt at this
stage of the work to teach mathematical geography.

Advanced Work. — When the pupil has done the
preliminary work, and has some knowledge of the
earth as a body, he may then enter upon the study
of the countries of the world ; he should begin with
his own. The map should be made the basis of
his study, — and the map should be transferred, as
it were, from the paper to the mind; to do this,
study the map, and draw it. Map drawing should
be a prominent part of geographical work from be-
ginning to end.

Let the earth's surface receive attention now;
modeling in clay will be helpful in learning about
the surface. Do not attempt too great minuteness
in the maps nor in description ; select only a few
things to be learned, and those the most important,
and teach them thoroughly. Enrich the study by
pictures, anecdotes, stories of travel, imaginary
journeys, etc. Appeal to the imagination in all
ways. All true geographical knowledge lies in the
mind in a series of pictures. And the teacher who
succeeds in setting the imagination of his pupils in

Teaching Particular Subjects. 203

geography to working actively and judiciously, will
find no lack of interest or progress.

History. — This study is very closely related to
geography. There is the same necessity for choos-
ing wisely out of the multitude of facts that might
be learned; there is the same call for the imagina-
tion to work. Geography may be made more inter-
esting by teaching something of history with it;
and the study of geography must be kept up in
history ; map drawing is just as important here as
there. Historical study for quite young children
must be mostly in the form of biography.

In higher classes in history, some dates must be
learned; let them be few and well-chosen, and let
them be learned thoroughly. Let the study of his-
tory deal much with the every-day lives of men,
and as little as may be with their wars and fight-
ings.

Natural Science. — But little, if any thing, can
be done in the study of natural science in our com-
mon schools. But, if the senses are properly
trained, if plants and animals are studied, if geog-
raphy is properly taught, if the pupils are trained
and encouraged to make and arrange collections, a
sure foundation will be laid for studying these sub-
jects in the right way when time and opportunity
shall serve.

SCH EME XIII.

Note. — Connect this Scheme with Scheme I, — the General Scheme.

4. TheCommu- [ i. Its Relations and Wants,
nity J

L a. The Teacher's Relations,

1. To School Officers.

2. To Parents.

3. To the People.

5. Miscellany, . •

I. Child-Nature.
I. The "New" Eaucation, i 2. Pleasant Work.

3. Playing with Pupils.

a. Apparatus.
3. Marking,

r I. What it Means.

2. Attendance.

3. Deportment.

4. Scholarship.

4. Religious Exercises.

5. Primary Teaching.

6. Teaching, a Profession.

7. Aphoristic Principles.

(204)

CHAPTER XX.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Community. — It depends primarily upon
the community whether our public schools shall be
what they ought to be or not. With us, no * * pa-
ternal'* government can reach down and make the
schools greatly different from what the people de-
sire. The people determine how much money
shall be spent for schools ; and, through the officers
whom they choose, they determine what pay the
teacher shall receive, and what shall be the general
character of the work done in the schools.

Where the people are awake and intelligent in
school affairs, it can rarely fail that good schools
will be found. Where the people have little inter-
est, or mistake in their notions of what constitutes
a good school, there can hardly be a good school
except by. a kind of accident.

It is certain that, in many places, the people are
not as earnest as they should be to have their chil-
dren well taught, nor have they the knowledge that
they ought to have as to what constitutes good
teaching. Much is done to fit teachers for their
work, to improve text-books and apparatus, to build

good school-houses, etc., while little seems to be

(205)

2o6 Pedagogy.

done to disseminate a more correct knowledge re-
specting education among the people, . or to arouse
them to demand better work in the school-room.

The Teacher's Relations. — Our purpose, how-
ever, is to speak chiefly of the relations of the
teacher to the community.

To School Officers. — ^The teacher should under-
stand and fully recognize his relations to the school
officers by whom he is employed, and under whom
he works. He must admit that the law makes
them his superiors, and gives the power of ultimate
control into their hands. They may be ignorant,
prejudiced, or overbearing ; but, if he is wise, the
teacher will enter into no controversy with them.
If he can not come to such an understanding with
them as shall permit him to go forward peaceably
in such a performance of his duties as his judgment
dictates, he would better close his connection with
them, and seek another field.

Usually, however, if a teacher really understands
his business, and if his character is such as to com-
mand the respect of others, he can secure harmony
and co-operation from his school officers by such a
combination of suavity, firmness, and good sense as
would give success in other relations with men. At
any rate, no school can be expected to be very
prosperous without harmony and co-operation be-
tween the teacher and the school authorities.

To Parents. — There is much truth in the saying
that the teacher is in bco parentis, — in the place of
the parent. The work of the school is supple

Miscellaneous. 207

mentary to the work of the home; the school is
not a substitute for the home. Teachers sometimes
assume that the whole work of education is in their
hands ; on the other hand, they are sometimes held
responsible for the whole work of the mental and
moral training of the children. This is a grave
mistake; the teacher can only enter into the
parents' labors at best, and he should be held re-
sponsible only for the part of the work that fairly
belongs to him.

The work of the parent and teacher is one.
From this, it follows that the closest understanding
and harmony between parent and teacher are of the
greatest importance. The teacher should be active
in bringing about this harmony. How can he do it?

Firsty By visiting the parents, not merely as a
teacher, but socially as a friend. On the occasion
of such visits, it may be proper for him to talk of
the condition of the school, of his plans for its im-
provement, and of the condition and progress of
the pupils from the family he is visiting. Such
statements as he makes on these subjects should be
frank and truthful. But his influence will be
greatly strengthened if he can converse on other
matters of interest besides the school. It is no
compliment to teachers that so many people feel
that they must introduce school topics when they
meet teachers in a social way. But it is to be
feared that the habit has grown up because so
many teachers have been found unable to talk in-
telligently about' any thing else.

2o8 Pedagogy.

Second, The teacher should be able to induce the
parents to visit the school and to observe its opera-
tions. Sometimes a cordial invitation will be all
that is necessary. But, if a simple invitation does
not accomplish the result, other ways can be found.
One of the simplest is to set apart a special time, —
say Friday afternoon, — for some kind of an exhibi-
tion. No attempt should be made to turn the
school into a small theater ; let the programme con-
sist largely of readings, compositions, and such
other exercises as are proper to the regular work
of the school. But let the exercises be carefully
chosen, well prepared, and of a sufficient variety to
bring out most or all of the pupils. The child who
is to have a part in an exercise on such an occasion
is very likely to issue an invitation that will bring
the mother at least. And the exercises may be so
conducted as to exhibit very effectually the spirit,
methods, and general progress of the school.

To THE People. — The teacher, especially in a
country district, should be a person of influence in
the community. It has been suggested that the
people often need instruction in matters pertaining
to education. Who should be more competent for
this than the teacher? Let him be careful, how-
ever, that he does not attempt it in any offensive
way.

On the occasion of such a school exhibition as
we have recommended, a short talk or paper from
the teacher may do much ; or he may get the
people to meet for a discussion of educational topics

Miscellaneous. 209

in the long^ winter evenings. Such meetings might
be quite informal, and they might include several
features of a literary and social kind. Skill in the
teacher to inaugurate and assist in such gatherings
will do much to increase his influence, as well as to
benefit the community.

Let him write for the county or village pappr.
If his articles are thoughtful, and are well prepared,
editors will gladly give them a place, and they will
be eagerly read. The newspaper is one of the
most potent factors in shaping the thought of a
community.

We have hinted at one of the ways in which a
teacher may do something for the intellectual im-
provement of the people among whom he labors.
He may assist in other improvements, also, such as
the founding and promoting of libraries, lecture
courses, etc. Nor should he be backward in regard
to physical improvements that will tend to beautify
a village or a district, — such as planting trees, etc.
A wide-awake, intelligent, active teacher may
leave a lasting monument to his memory, in the
neighborhood where he works, by such means as
these.

Nor should he be ignorant or indifferent about
the business affairs which are so essential to the
material prosperity of the community. Nothing
will raise him more in the estimation of practical
men than to find that he has an intelligent interest
in business affairs. At the same time, it will save
him from shriveling up into a '*mere pedagogue."

Ped.— 18.

210 Pedagogy.

Neither should he be a cipher in religious and
political matters. Not that he should be a noisy
partisan; but it will generally be found that a
teacher who has convictions on such subjects, and
who takes a manly stand according to his convic-
tions, will receive more respect, even from those
nof of his sect or party, than one who is indifferent,
or who attempts to identify himself with all parties.
The teacher should be a Christian and a patriot;
but most Christians find ^t best to identify them-
selves with some denomination, and most patriots
belong to some political party. There is no good
reason why the teacher should be an exception.

In short, the teacher should be a man among
men, — intelligent, earnest, and active in the things
that claim the attention of other good and influen-
tial men. What is said here, with some necessary
changes, will apply just as well to the teacher who
is a woman as to a man.

The "New" Education. — Of late, it has be-
come common to hear, or to read, the phrase
'*new education." What does it mean? Strictly
speaking, there can be no such thing as a new edu-
cation. Education is the same thing in all the
ages ; its principles are unchanging ; and its methods
must conform to these principles, if they are right
methods, however they may vary in form.

The most marked feature of what is called the
new education is its regard to the principles of
child-nature. It insists that the teacher shall study
the nature, the capacity, and the tendencies of the

Miscellaneous. 2 1 1

child, and shall adapt the work of instruction ac-
cordingly, instead of giving all attention to the sub-
ject-matter to be taught, or attempting to teach
according to preconceived notions of what the child
needs and can do. This is what Garfield meant
when he said, "The teacher should study the boy
more than the book."

Another principle of the '*new" education is
that it seeks to make the acquisition of knowledge,
and all the work of the school, agreeable to the
pupil. The human mind naturally craves knowl-
edge, and its acquisition gives the highest pleasure,
but it must be real knowledge, — not its semblance,
symbols, or husks. It is believed that the work of
the school may be so conducted that the pupil may
realize at all times that his store of knowledge is
increasing, that his powers are strengthening, and
that he may rejoice and be glad in his growth.
This is a worthy aim, and the teacher can hardly
regard it too highly.

Yet, it may be doubted whether the giving of
pleasure to the pupils should be made the ultimate
or only test in estimating the character of school
work. In life, duty often imposes upon us tasks
that are not wholly agreeable, although their ac-
complishment may bring the highest pleasure. It
may well be asked whether school should not train
us to meet and to do bravely just such tasks?

It is sometimes asked whether a teacher should
join freely in the sports and games of his pupils?
To our mind, the answer is clearly in the affirma-

212 Pedagogy,

tive. Such a course, if judiciously followed, will
benefit the pupil ; it may improve the character of
his sports; it may prevent evils that would other-
wise infest the playground ; it will cement the bond
of union and sympathy between him and his
teacher. It will benefit the teacher by bringing
him into a closer sympathy with his pupils; it will
help him to keep from growing old before his time ;
it will give him a better insight into the personal
characteristics of his pupils than any thing else.
But he must join in the sports as an equal; he
must not, by the assumption of a dictatorial man-
ner, make his presence on the playground disagree-
able ; furthermore, it is important that he should
be able to play well any game in which he may
join. If it be objected that his dignity will suffer
from his joining in the pupils* plays, we have only
to say that a dignity which can not bear the test
of the playground must be of the artificial or false
kind. True dignity means genuine worth shown in
a worthy way.

Apparatus. — Every school should be supplied
with all that is necessary for the proper work of
illustration, but many schools are wofuUy lacking in
this regard. And, if nothing can be used as ap-
paratus but such as is highly finished, and sold in
the markets, the cost is no small drawback to its
supply. But an ingenious teacher will find means
to illustrate without being wholly dependent on the
costly apparatus of the shop; kernels of com, or
beans, or pebbles may take the place of the nu-

Miscellaneous. 213

meral frame ; a pumpkin, of a globe, etc. A little
home-made apparatus may answer nearly all pur-
poses in physics, also. All such apparatus has one
decided advantage, — the pupil's attention is less
likely to be arrested by the apparatus itself; its use
as a means to something beyond itself is less likely
to be hidden. For instance, the pupil is in less
danger of thinking that his combinations of num-
bers are confined to the numeral frame, if he learns
the same combinations by the use of common
objects.

Marking. — Few topics connected with the work
of the school have been more discussed of late than
the ** marking system.** Much has been uttered in
the way of bitter criticism of it. It is not said
directly that schools would be better without any
careful record of the attendance, deportment, and
scholarship of the pupils; but that seems to be a
fair inference, if what is charged to the ** system"
necessarily belongs to it, and not simply to the
abuse of it.

By the marking system, a deliberate record is
made of the attendance, deportment, and recitations
of the pupils ; it is a record of facts as they trans-
pire, or of the teacher's judgments made at a time
when there is the least occasion for mistake, — that
is, when the matter is freshest in his mind.

Attendance. — In respect to attendance, the mark-
ing should be simply a record of facts. The pupil
is present or he is absent, — he is tardy or he is not.
This the marks should show, and this alone. No

214 Pedagogy.

-----

account must be taken of any reasons for absence
or tardiness, — these can not affect the facts of his
attendance, but may properly affect his deportment
record.

Deportment. — Here the marks should be a rec-
ord of the teacher's opinion concerning the pupil's
merits or demerits, made at the time of the trans-
actions by which his standing is affected. It is not
easy to see how such a record can be an evil, nor
how any thing better can be substituted for it.
The teacher will have an opinion about the pupil's
deportment, and the degrees of its worthiness or
unworthiness, and he will sometimes be called on
to express that opinion. How can such an opinion
"be made up better than from the average of daily
records ?

Scholarship. — ^The statements last made will apply
with equal force to the teacher's opinions respect-
ing the scholarship of his pupil. But it may not
always be clear, even in the teacher's mind, exactly
what the scholarship mark should show. Negatively,
it can not show the pupil's disposition towards
study ; it can not show the degree of effort he has
put forth ; it can not show absolutely how much he
may know about the study in question. It should
be simply the written record of the teacher's esti-
mate concerning the relative success of the pupil's
efforts at reciting on the given topics. We say the
teacher's estimate, for we regard ''self-reporting"
of either scholarship or deportment as unworthy of
serious discussion.

Miscellaneous . 215

Now, we fail to see the force of the objections
urged against a written record of these things. It
is said that marking takes much time; but this ob-
jection is not pertinent, if it is worth the time it
takes. When a pupil recites, the teacher forms
some opinion of his performance as it goes on.
Why may not that opinion be formed on a numeri-
cal scale? And how long will it take to write the
figure to express it ? It is said that the pupil is
led to work for marks. Is that not better than to
have no motive prompting him to work? It is not
the highest motive ; but why need it prevent higher
motives from operating in cases where higher mo-
tives have any influence? Or, shall we discard all
motives but the very noblest? It is said that the
marks are not always just. This is what we should
expect so long as the teachers are fallible. But
will the fallible teacher, in the absence of a daily
record, be likely to reach conclusions that will be
more just? It seems to us that any valid strictures
on marking must pertain to the abuse of the sys-
tem, or to the inherent weakness of the teacher,
rather than to the system itself

We shall not try to indicate the best methods of
marking; we shall not discuss the question whether
the pupils should be allowed to see their marks;
nor shall we discuss the proper and improper uses
to be made of the marks. But we believe that, if
the true meaning of each kind of marking is kept
clearly in view, if the record is carefully and con-
scientiously made, the marks will serve very valu-

2i6 Pedagogy,

able purposes; and that it is not possible to find
any adequate substitute for them.

Religious Exercises. — We believe it to be very
desirable that a school should be opened by re-
ligious exercises when they are genuine, and when
they can be had without controversy. But we
should much regret to see them prescribed by law,
quite cLS much as we should regret to see them for-
bidden by law. Most of our states leave the ques-
tion to be decided by the local authorities; and, in
our opinion, this is just where it ought to be left
We think, also, that any teacher who prizes such
exercises, and who is allowed to have them, will
make a great mistake if he compel any pupil to
take part in them, or even to be present, against
his own will or the expressed will of his parent or
guardian. Religious performances thiat are forced,
or are merely perfunctory, have no value that we
can estimate. *r

Primary Teaching. — There is some reason to
hope that the day is not far distant when no intelli-
gent person will say, * ' Oh, any body can teach
little children.*' We believe the opinion is gaining
ground among our people that the primary schools
require the very best teaching talent, and the most

*"It is not impossible that the Church may yet see formal, religious
instruction, even to the ceremony of reading the Bible, leave the com-
mon schools altogether. Whenever the reading of the Bible 'without
note or comment,' or the formal prayer on opening school, is merely
perfunctory, it is surely not moral instruction, nor even religious instruc-
tion, in any efficient sense." — W, T. Harris.

Miscellaneous. 217

careful preparation, and that successful teaching in
such schools is entitled to receive the highest com-
pensation. Nowhere else is it more disastrous to
attempt to build on a poor foundation than in edu-
cation; and nowhere else are the results of bad
work at the foundation more certainly without
remedy. In no other istage of the work can the
principles of sound pedagogy be violated with so
great damage. Nowhere else in the work are the
pupils so open to personal influences, and in no
other stage of the work are the teaching influences
so exclusively personal. In the primary schools is
the place to lay the foundations of a sound charac-
ter, no less than the foundations of a sound in-
tellectual culture. And people are coming to feel
more and more that a sound character is the great
outcome of a good education. On all accounts,
then, the primary schools demand and should re-
ceive the most careful attention.

Teaching, a Profession. — ^Teaching can never
become a profession in the same strict sense as law
or medicine, so long as the majority of our schools
are in session but for a few months in the year, and
pay such small wages to the teacher; nor so long
as the oversight of the work is committed to per-
sons outside of the profession ; nor so long as the
majority of teachers follow the employment for a
few years only. But the time may come when the
person who makes teaching a life-work, and who
brings to it the talent, energy, and special prepara-
tion which other professions demand, will receive

Ped.— 19.

2 1 8 Pedagogy.

all the respect and deference that are considered
due to the members of other professions.

How soon this time shall arrive depends chiefly
on teachers themselves, — there is no conspiracy on
the part of the people to keep teachers below the
position to which their worth entitles them. And
it is the solemn duty of every teacher to make his
full contribution to the sum of influences that shall
raise teaching to the height it ought to occupy by
virtue of its transcendent importance.

Principles. — In closing, we will present a few
important principles in a compact, aphoristic form :
I. General Principles:

1. Education is a development; it is, in no
sense, a creation.

2. Any human power that is under the control
of the will can be educated.

3. There is only one way of developing any
human power; viz., by wise use, or self-activity.

4. Self-activity in education has two phases;
viz.. First, From without, inward, — receptive and
acquisitive; Second, From within, outward, — pro-
ductive and expressive.

5. The receptive and the productive phases
should go together in all the work of education.

6. Self-control is the proper outcome of educa-
tion ; /. e, , self-control of the hands (the body), of
the head (the intellect), of the heart (the affections,
wishes, and purposes).

7. It IS a general law that desire precedes acqui-
sition.

Miscellaneous. 219

8. Learning, or knowledge, is the mind's food;
but food strengthens only as it is digested and
assimilated.

9. No progress in education is possible without
attention.

10. In education, nothing is really ours till it has
become habitual to us.

11. In all the work of education, the habits that
are formed are more important than the knowledge
gained.

12. Human powers develop naturally in a certain
order, which should be followed in education.

13. The law of correlation holds with intellectual
and moral forces no less than with physical forces;
forces may be transferred or transmuted, — they are
never lost.

14. A true scheme of education must aim at and
include three things; viz., Knowledge, develop-
ment, and efficiency.

15. A general education, whose object is the
making of true manhood or womanhood, should
precede a special education, whose object is to fit
for some art, trade, or occupatioh. Or,

16. The primary object of education is the per-
fection of the individual.

17. The school is responsible for a part only of
the child's education; the pedagogue is co-worker
with the parent, the pulpit, the press, and the peo-
ple. In other words, the school, the home, the
church, the printed page, and society, — all take
part in the training of the rising generation.

220 Pedagogy,

II. Special Principles:

1. The work of education should be suited to
the pupil's stage of development.

2. With very young children, train chiefly the
senses and the power of expression.

3. With young children, in all their school ex-
ercises, something should be given them to do,

4. With young children, the prog^ress should
always be from the known to the unknown.

5. With young children, the concrete should
precede the abstract.

6. With young children, the particular should
precede the general.

7. With young children, give always the idea
before the word, — the thing before its symbol.

8. Care should be taken not to confound things
with their symbols; the danger of this is greatest
with young children, but it is not confined to them.

9. False forms should never be put before
young children for correction ; such false forms as
they make should be removed as quickly and as
quietly as possible.

10. Early youth is the best time to commit
things to memory, — to ''store the mind.*'

11. It is well for youth to commit to memory
some good things not yet fully comprehended.

12. Begin where the child is; all attempts to
teach little children will be futile or worse, unless
they are adapted to the present state of the chil-
dren's minds, as regards both knowledge and
strength.

INDEX.

Abstracting, illustrated,
Accuracy, habit of, ....
Activity, mental and brain, distinguished
Admiration, use and abuse of,
Aid to pupils in recitation, wrong,
Air, good, essential to health.
Algebra, suggestions on teaching.
Alphabet, how learned properly,
Aphoristic Principles, .
Apparatus, how obtained.
Apparatus, simple.
Aptness to teach,
Arithmetic, suggestions on teaching, .
Arithmetic takes too much time,
Arithmetic, why poorly taught, .
Assigning lessons, ....

Assigning lessons, teacher's problem in,
Assigning topics in recitation.

Attention, defined

Attention, how trained.
Attention, illustrated, ....
Attention, questions concerning, discussed
Attention, two ways of gaining, .

Beauty, intuitive idea of, defined.
Being, intuitive idea of, defined,
Best Methods,

PAGE
22

III

34
64
171
100
198
185
218
120
212
98

195

195
163

166

175

34
72

27
26

(221)

222

Index,

Cause and occasion, distinguished.
Cause, intuitive idea of, defined,
Cheerfulness, moral habit of,
Child- nature must be studied, .
Children, little, their proper work,
Children, neglected, kindergartens for,
Chills, their effect on health.

Classes, size of,

Classes, too many in school.
Classifying, advantages of, .
Classifying, how it should be done, .
Classifying, true and false bases of, .
Cleanliness, why essential to health, .
Concentration, habit of, . . .
Conceptive Power, defined, .
Conceptive Power, uses of, .

Conscience, defined

Conscience, how trained.

Conscience, its action always the same.

Conscience should be followed, .

Consciousness always accompanies mental

Consciousness, defined.

Custom, a good old one,

Development of mental powers, stages of.

Direction, how taught

Drawing, suggestions on teaching.
Dress, its purposes and abuses, .
Drilling in classes, ....

Education and Learning, not the same,
Education can not create, .
Education, definitions of, .
Education, four kinds of, defined.
Education, general, defined,
Education, inevitable, . . .

activity,

PAGE

114

78
102

133

134
129

135
134
102

III
36

31
67

32
68

34
34
65

46
200
191
108
163

39
42

75
43
77

Index,

223

Education, physical,
Education requires time,
Education, special, defined.
Education, "the new," what it is,
Education, the state should provide,
Equilibrium of bodily temperature,
Exercise essential to health.
Exercise should have an object.
Exercises, religious, in school, .
Eye, the teacher's,

Faculty, a mental, defined, .

Figures instead of numbers.

First day's work in school, .

Food, remarks as to kind and quantity of,

Form, a proper study for children,

Free conference in oral teaching.

Furniture of the school-house,

Generalizing, defined, .
Geography, elementary.
Geography, suggestions on teaching.
Geography, why poorly taught, .
Geometry, suggestions on teaching,
Government, advantages of good, in school.
Government, a means, not an end,
Government, defined, .
Government, its purposes, .
Government, without personal feeling.
Graded schools, ....
Grammar, often poorly taught, .
Grammar, technical,
Grounds, school, ....

Habits, defined

Habits, education is to form them.

PAGE

43
42

210
78

lOI

103
103
216
142

195
123

104

199

119

23
200

202

200

199

144

149
142

143

U3
138

193
194

118

107
107

224

Index.

Habits, their use and danger.
Hate, right use of, . . .
Hearing, how deadened, in school,
Hearing, how trained, .
Hearing lessons, ....
High Schools, public, argument for,
History, suggestions on teaching.
Honor, false code of, in schools.

Identity, personal, intuitive idea of, defined,
Imagination, active in children.
Imagination, defined, .
Imagination, uses of.
Independence in recitation, .
Instruction, oral, .
Instruction should be given.
Intellect, the, four forms, defined.
Intellectual powers, the work of each,
"Issues" to be avoided,

Judging, defined, , . . .
Justice, on the part of the teacher.

Kindergarten, the, ...

Kindness, moral habit of, .

Language Lessons,
Lessons, hearing,
Lessons must be definite.
Lessons must not be too long, .
Lessons must not be too short, .
Love in the child must be cultivated.
Lying, indirect,

Management in school, importance of.
Management, twelve principles of,

PAGE

io8

54
169

79
203

114

19
60

171
176
161

15
28

'55

22
115. 153

49.78
114

193
169

166

164

i6s

62 »

141
156

Index,

225

Man's nature and powers, .

Maps, their use, how taught,

Marking pupils, explained, .

Master, the teacher must be.

Memory, defined, .

Memory, how trained, .

Memory, neglect of.

Mental powers, grand divisions of.

Mental powers, their action illustrated.

Method, a, of teaching primary reading,

Methods and Principles,

Mind, the, a unit.

Moral training, how given, .

Morality, defined.

Morality, its psychological elements.

Names of pupils, how learned, .
Names of pupils, how taken,
"New Education,'* the.
Normal schools, their purpose, .
Numbers, elementary, how taught,

Offenses in school, two classes of.
Oral instruction, ....
Order of questioning a class.
Organization, meaning of the word.
Ornaments, sham,

Parents, do they care for their children ?
Pay of the teacher, difficulty of estimating
Pay of the teacher, its amount, .
Pedagogy, defined.
Pensions to teachers, not desirable,
People, the, make the school,
Phonic elements, how taught.
Pictures, their use.

PAGE

10
201
213
149

57
58
II

13
183

89
II

114
69

127
126
210

87
196

152
176

174
122

109

85
205

185
51

226

Index.

Playing with pupils,

Position and movement of teacher and pupils,
Powers, mental, are they good or bad?
Preparation of teachers, neglected.
Preparation of the teacher consists in what ?
Presentative powers, why so called, .
Primary teaching, the most important,
Principles, four fundamental,
Principles of education,
Principles of management, .
Profession of teaching, .
Programme, hints on making,
Programme, its value in school.
Progress of the teacher, how attained.
Promptness in hearing lessons, .
Proposition, the, and its parts, defined.
Punctuation, no direct guide in reading,
Punishment, corporal, cautions concerning,
Punishment, corporal, defended,
Punishment, defined, .
Punishments, improper.

Questioning pupils,

Raising hands in recitation.
Rapidity, habit of, ...

Reading, defined, ....
Reading, primary, how taught, .
Reading, suggestions on teaching,
Reason, natural, defined,
Reasoning, defined and illustrated.
Recitation, defined.
Recitation, a, includes what?
Records to be kept.
Reflective Power, forms of, .
Reflective Power, misused, .
Relation of the teacher to parents,

PAGE
211

37
S6

2l6

2l8

156

217

137
136

169

23
186
148

146

173

172
112
181

183
186

159
160

123
21

206

Index.

227

Relation of the teacher to the people,
Relation of the teacher to school officers,
Religious exercises in school,
Responsibilities of the teacher, .
Reverence to be cultivated.

Reviewing,

Right, intuitive idea of, defined, .
Rigidness in hearing lessons.
Rules for reading, — ^their use and abuse,
Rules for spelling, ....
Rules in school, objections to many, .
Rules in school, when proper, .

PAGE

208

206

216

65
162

27
170

186

190

150

153

School, the, should be made pleasant.
School-house, the, its cleanliness.
School-house, the, its condition, .
School-house, the, its situation, ,
School-house, the, its structure.
Script should be taught first.
Sense, a sixth, defined.
Senses, the five, defined.
Sensibility, the, its forms defined
Sight, exercises to train the.
Sight, training of, by pictures,
Sight, training of, in school,
Sight, training of, out-of-doors.
Signals in school,
Singing, suggestions on teaching
Sleep, danger from loss of, .
Sleep, its relation to health.
Space, intuitive idea of, defined.
Spelling, rules for.
Spelling-book, not necessary.
Standing to recite.
Study promotes long life.
System, the marking, discussed.

311

121
121
117
118

183

17
r6

30
52

49
124

191

105

190

189

170

94
213

228

Index,

Tact, wanting in a teacher,

Teacher and pupil, their relation illustrated,

Teacher, the, can "afford" to progress.

Teacher, the, he should govern himself.

Teacher, the, his habits.

Teacher, the, his importance.

Teacher, the, his motives, .

Teacher, the, his preparation,

Teacher, the, his responsibility.

Teacher, the, his various relations,

Teacher, the, must make progress,

Teacher, the, should attend meetings,

Teacher, the, should be a model,

Teacher, the, should be a student.

Teacher, the, should teach the community.

Teacher's health, how to keep it,

Teacher's health, its importance.

Teacher's pay, reasons for it.

Teaching, a profession.

Teaching, primary, its importance.

Teasing, not necessary,

Tell, teach, and train, their meaning,

Testing in a class.

Thoroughness, habit of.

Time, intuitive idea of, defined, .

Training, defined and illustrated.

Training, moral, ....

Truthfulness, the basis of morality,

Truths, axiomatic, defined, .

Ventilation of school-houses.
Voice, the teacher's.

Will, the, defined.

Will, the, how trained.

Will, the. should it be "broken?"

Writing should be taught early, .

Writing, suggestions on teaching.

PAGE

155
107

206

99
82

^l^

216

154

129
160

112

130
69, 131

['3. 153

loi, 119

141

32
70

183
187

92.

LBIOtS J«11

3 2044 028 904 258

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